To Our Land - Mahmoud Darwish

A poem by the great Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish,  to mark  the 39th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, which is marked by Palestinians by protesting and planting olive trees near the so called buffer zones of Gaza. 
Today commemorates the day when Israeli forces carried out a lethal and brutal  military attack on unarmed Palestinians in 1976, who were peacefully   protesting against Israeli apartheids land grab policies.  

To our Land

To our land,
and it is the one near the word of god,
a ceiling of clouds
To our land,
and it is the one far from the adjectives of nouns,
the map of absence
To our land,
and it is the one tiny as a sesame seed,
a heavenly horizon ... and a hidden chasm
To our land
and it is the one poor as a grouses wings
holy books . . . and an identity wound
To our land,
and it is the one surrounded with torn hills,
the ambush of a new past
To our land, and it is a prize of war,
the freedom to die from longing and burning
and our land, in its bloodied night
is jewel that glimmers for the far upon the far
and illuminates whats outside it . . .
As for us , inside,
we suffocate more !

Translated by Fady Joudah