Long Hemorrhaging Poems

Fadwa Tuqan has been called the Grand Dame of Palestinian letters and The Poet of Palestine. These are my translations of Fadwa Tuqan poems originally written in Arabic.



Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by...

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English translations of Arabic poems by Fadwa Tuqan aka "The Poet of Palestine"

Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Enough for me to lie in the earth,
to be buried in her,
to sink...

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Existentialism emancipation proclamation manumission...

Flourishes amidst freedom 
once invisible (alice in) chains shucked
when soul no longer kept linkedin 
to jane's addiction 
with corporeal duty, entity, fealty... 
while formerly shed body electric 
gendered as former googly eyed...

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I am…

Washing a stormy night clean, its promise
this empty grave,
where sunshine suddenly erases the shadows,
who sigh like dejected, broken tears,
surfacing in the dewdrops, 
lifting the darkness of a night,
before the blessings,
before the trembling silence
started to...

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Aha - argh... oh my dog...
don't mind me muttering, eh?

Earlier today (May 5th, 2020),
I forget thee exact hour
found me utterly beside mice elf,
matter of fact even at this moment,
yours truly doth feel mad at himself
cuz...

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Malevolent maverick mailer-daemon...
wrought maximum monetary mayhem
within mein kampf

Incomprehensible inhumane
inquisitorial imp incarnate injudiciously,
ineffably, indescribably inflicted
inxs inexorable insidious injury.

Snake charmer also known
in the underworld as Harvey Specter
subliminally slithered,
and deftly insinuated himself
into body electric of yours truly
forever remotely...

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Sensing the death of something
That once brought more life than 
The heartbeat or breath, faith
In the beautiful and intimate places
Where light kisses away the darkness
And music replaces the most horrible
Dread with a feeling so blessed,
So...

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Restoring peace,
and "No Loser Left Behind"
win/win EarthJustice Systems
enlighten
invite gift economies 
to empower future health wealthy co-investors
inside outside vocations of mercy
rooted in depolarizing faith

And sparse, yet resonant, evidence
that win/lose predative ego-intentions
are secondary
longer-term victims
of our own viral...

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(Tidbit of trivia: associated with 
businessman from Troy, New York, 
Samuel Wilson, known affectionately 
as “Uncle Sam” Wilson. The barrels 
of beef that he supplied the army 
during  War of 1812 were stamped 
“U.S.”...

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From his mama's own mouth, this story came
Her travail to carry him, a long trail
Of tears, loneliness, suffering and shame
A hunger for which hope made no avail
And then the hemorrhaging, her vital blood
Like common mud,...

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Twenty-three chromosomes from my mother
Twenty-three chromosomes from my father
Already, I feel loved
Three weeks now and my heart is beating
My blood is pumping
My brain is dividing into three primary sections
Already, I am alive
Four weeks now and...

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I Write Wits Psalm Burning Desire...

Why?
To escape livingsocial,
     and negate mine birth
figuratively, knowingly,
     and precariously,
     I nightmarishly perch
teeter tottering atop - dearth
of financial...

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Lifeblood of democracy hemorrhaging
ousting the "FAKE" president only recourse
to staunch impending grim demise,
since forefathers drafted
United States Constitution
ratified more'n two centuries ago

hoi polloi must take to the streets
denouncing severe curtailment
impinging sacred freedom of speech
linkedin with paramount...

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Billy and Mary had the most beautiful love
story.
It was like something you read in a book or 
seen in a movie.
They were next-door neighbors and best 
friends.
Each milestone in life was made with each 
other.
They...

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Nonetheless suicidal ideations severely
whipsaw punctuate, lacerate, assassinate
frescoed fiasco failure grimly livingsocial
ah...that dull cutlery eyed with temptation
one painful thrust hemorrhaging, whereby
carpeting permanently stained blood red,

(security deposit forsaken) cremation ought
not outrageously expensive, I subsequently
chickened out imposing eternity...

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How can one man find
More faith in a crevasse of Siula Grande,
Than most will ever know,
Sitting beneath a pulpit on Sunday?

Dulling the truth to grow the census,
Merchants and cowards comfort the carnal ear.
Marketing Christ’s love...

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a woman with a hemorrhaging problem went to see the Lord Jesus Christ
she believed that if she could only touch Him, it would save her life
as Jesus passed by the crowd she reached out and...

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The nation is very rich indeed
 But,
 Wounded out of loss direction;
 Wounded out of lack of ambition,
 Weeping out of lack of impulse;
 Wounded out  of  lack  of imagination,
 Ingeniously exhumed...

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STAINS IN THE SANCTUARY ®

From the obnoxious obscenity
To the unorthodox immoralities
Personage of the perpetual Pentecostal pimps
Poisoned-Chalice in the mouth of a praying prostitute
Even the grey has not yet embraced self-control
Not too old for the renowned...

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An imported imperfection of his delayed conclusion of opinions leaves me restless.
I know I may not be the prettiest, I know my body may not be the fittest.
However, my heart remains the same, his love...

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“FAKE” Festering Marital Spite Only Backfired...

More than a bajillion painful eons
after pledging troth
with thee missus,
whom I definitely blindly wed
comprised great ta ra ra boom
de ay ye blood red

boomerang/ domino pizza pie
effect pronouncing lead
din saucy impact...

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I comport myself with quiet pridefulness,
plus intellectual whimsy
aware that "FAKE" pretentiousness,
could be mistaken foreign egotistical vitae
furthering, feathering and figuratively
undermining jestingly, 

poetically, and zealously
oozing, gushing, bubbling over
with faux snobbish suave re:
pulse sieve literary fatuous
haughtiness, and ludicrous...

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White as a sheet ghostly color,
sans countenance of mine
impossible to differentiate between
Lenovo external screen background
myopia no deterrent as jaw slackened
upon Citizens Bank notification

current spate of ill health
(relentless stomach virus)
triggered emotional state
Kamikaze nose dived
into forbidding deathwish
gastrointestinal...

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Painted Delilah's, scarlet sirens, apples and bloodshed- 

You tried to teach me to fear the bold obscenities of Red, to be a willing captive within 
conventions of virtue and the expectations that came with my...

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You prod at the sores of your heart
with a hemorrhaging pen, wishing it was 
a scalpel; so you could carve 
out the disease that keeps 
your rage alive. 
Basic instinct, I suppose.
To slay the demons,
that...

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