Samih Al-Qasim, a Palestinian poet celebrated throughout the Arab world, died August 19, 2014. His collection Sadder Than Water: New & Selected Poems can be purchased from Ibis Editions.
END OF A TALK WITH A JAILER
From the narrow window of my small cell,
I see trees that are smiling at me
And rooftops crowded with my family.
And windows weeping and praying for me.
From the narrow window of my small cell—
I can see your big cell!
Samih Al-Qasim
(translated by Nazih Kassis)
TRAVEL TICKETS
The day I’m killed,
my killer, rifling through my pockets,
will find travel tickets:
One to peace,
one to the fields and the rain,
and one
to the conscience of humankind.
Dear killer of mine, I beg you:
Do not stay and waste them.
Take them, use them.
I beg you to travel.
Samih Al-Qasim
(translated by A.Z. Foreman)