Long Manual labor 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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A shameful act in this world we live today
surely an educated mind can clearly see the truth behind a mask
Ignorance is the hardness of heart manifests in such violence 
The horrors and inhumanity of it...

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If the Chinese Communist Party ruled the world? If you were young, healthy and male! Especially, if you were Muslim! They would harvest your organs while you were still alive! The records show they are...

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John 9:4 (KJV) I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

He has the responsibility,
Covered in dollar signs, abiding,
Beneath the shadows of...

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All he is rackety-raggedy walking the streets.
Talking about things that are conflicting.
His mind has been captured by the wrongful deeds of people.
He has been cheated and depleted of his meaning.
No more power brings no stronger...

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An empty pocket is an empty pocket
that's all Joshua can see
the tears of its hunger
a reminder of a protracted destiny
while donations to the temples
confirm the need for charity
an immoral circle of thorns
their sacrificial catalyst
in the...

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Stereotypes 
So now you join an equality club and think you’re an activist
You seriously wanna get hired but now a high school graduate
It’s really really sad that it even had to come down to this
Oh...

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I hear Donald Trump
would love to bring to Republican plutocracy
what Abraham Lincoln represented for civilly warring democracy,
but that anti-enslavement resolution
is too hard for me to focus and sustain
in Trump is DivineTrump Land.

What remains most easily
is...

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A war in heaven reluctantly concedes
To the lullabies in the night singing softly
Covering us in heavenly whisper blows
As feathers falling light so grace intensely  
Escaping God's whitened watery coves

And somewhere up above
I believe there...

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A war in heaven reluctantly concedes
To the lullaby's in the night singing softly
Covering us in heavenly whisper blows
As feathers falling light so intense and gracefully 
Escaping God's whitened watery coves

And somewhere up above
I believe there...

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If this here deep inside the depth
of the Great Pyramid was in fact
meant to be

A burial chamber for the felled 
Pharaoh King himself

To ascent and assimilate his procession
and onward journey into the afterlife 

And this...

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Tired and weary, she was feeling,
and was not, in no mood, to fuss.
After a long day, of working hard,
she just want, to get, on the bus.

However, she was born, and raised, in a period,
one of...

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I've dug my nails down into the ground
Broke them down to the tiniest of nubs,
Digging in the lowliest mines of the African continent just to find the hardest diamonds,
The sharpest crystals just to build a...

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Our mouths don't tell boys Iike us
how to play hide-and-seek 
under the shades of valentino love 
when we're just toddlers of roses
mastering the wild game of love,
and song of songs from Solomon's verses
whose megaphone had...

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Rise Prophets Rise

Check This, I know a Medicine Man who spent 10 years doing manual labor,
He is a Genius trapped in an insane world.
I know a woman, Nolana, with the Heart of a Lion and...

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I read a poem when but a youth
    That inspired me to something simple see
    When I was young and in poor health
    A regular man...

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Everyone says there must be something better
They look over their shoulder and wipe the dust of their sweater
Not the dust of manual labor
From sitting on a shelf, contact paper

No better way to make change that...

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Spring was ushered in the other day by a glorious, warmin' sun!
The robins seemed elated, but for me another cycle had begun.
Just days ago the lawn was brown, now it's turnin' green.
Alas, I must begin...

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Yea tho' i may busy myself at the docks to an unbusied time.
Watching idly the tick of the clock's digited passage.
Manual labor tugs at my unattentive sleeves as like a well loosened
Untucked shirt tail stuck...

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Gently leaning cat tails whispering their secrets so frail.
Penetrating smell of mint leaves touched the warmth of a summer breeze.
The tiny babbling brook who had so much to say providing simple beauty for me to...

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The Deal 
(The current attitude seems to be)
Written: by a Tea Party conservative 
January 2015

We live in a time when sacrificing for man’s common good is gone,
The attitude seems to be, get all you can...

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I'm a young professional.
I don't know my personal mission statement yet.
I'm nervous about calling IT.
         It might take me a couple days to work up the courage.
I...

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I was a mosser
For many of years
Hard manual labor
Not what it appears

Sphagnum moss a life
For underprivileged some
A way to make a living
Not who you want to become

Working grueling hours
Amidst the dreadful heat
No indoor air condition
Gusts...

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Another day
Another dollar
The alarm clock screams
I mute the squalor
Let me sleep
Just one more hour
Having to work
My mood turns sour.

Cold water hits me 
In the shower
I didn’t get to sleep
That extra hour
The water heater’s busted
I cannot...

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