Long Prison cell 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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SOLITARY CONFINEMENT 1 : Number Four


Many chains, many locks and bars
clattered at four in the morning 
black bitter coffee drugged
a single bucket of cold water 
         ...

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Oxygen is depleting from what remains within the confines of which, a means to an end, lie guarded. Watch as hope disappears within the aftermath of this wreckage, which was constructed-meticulously seeking absolute perfection…; only...

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5 minutes 

Black man- Regular Font
White cop- ALL CAPS 

Excuse me Mr. Officer can i ask you a question
WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT BOY YOU ARE GETTING OUT OF YOUR PROTEST SECTION
Why do you hate...

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Monoah had a wife,
 who was barren most her life.
An angel came and whispered in her ear,
 you'll have a son and hold him dear.

Now the angel said, "No unclean things to eat,
 don't drink...

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Chains, so heavy. Binding every body part.  
A cell: its cold metal bars blocking out light.   
A wall, originally meant to protect, now a barricade nothing penetrates.
A net, once safety, now entangling,...

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People once said I was a homebody, and I guess that was me,
Often curled up with a good book, I loved watching movies.

Like blooms of sunlit meadows, are joyful where they stand,
Stained in the world...

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Once upon a time in a woodland vale,
A town called Wong had an amazing tale,
Of witches who plotted to harm the townsfolk,
But their spells were so bad they became quite a joke.  

Hubble, bubble,...

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I saw one flag raised and another fall
I saw the great lie of justice and equity for all

I saw a crisis that stopped the world
I saw a wall to keep out the cold

I saw a...

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I’m trapped in the American struggle/ 
Surrounded in the alcoholic drug addicted jungle/ 
In my soul called soul I seem to unknowingly look for trouble/ 
Yeah am I the only one to truly see our...

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There will be two resurrections
The first one is holy,
will it include you?
There will be two risings
     in the valley of dry bones
Which one will you awaken to?
The first resurrection
is reserved for...

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Becoming the prey 
I’m melting away like a 5 foot wick
To show a skeleton of who was once the author
Now the pencil tips break and the pens ink tends to escape 
My eyelids worked overtime...

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There once was an Instant named Now
who wanted to stop Time.
He was tired of having Seconds, Minutes, and Hours pass him by.

In a world of endless Instants,
a new one always arriving. 
He grew tired and...

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Deep in the lands where friend fought foe,
and spoilt queens reached all new low.
Who'd take the bounty of a heart,
or curse a kingdom for a start.

Their was one sly, little devil,
corrupt beyond all young girl's...

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Raymond Miles heard what sounded like a super sonic boom in the air while he
eye witnessed jet airliners fall to the ground on the freeway.  His family watched
cars piling up on the freeway totally...

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Bullying will always happen! Even as an adult bullying takes place. Some ways are more subtle than others. Try as we may to stop such things from happening they will still happen. Our workplace has...

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life is filled with many problems and many struggles
but with a song and a prayer go to God with all your troubles
as death is a certainty on which you can rely
for as sure as you...

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Have you ever listened to the silence?
Alone in the giant trees
Have you ever experienced your soul?
Being totally at ease
Have you ever stood atop a volcano?
Felt its trembling power
Ever smelled the sulfur boiling in the pits
Man...

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You hear endlessly about tolerance,
as if it always must be heaven-sent,
that all differences we must appreciate,
and to not do so makes us reprobates.

And they’re always pressing for more and more,
must make friends with the folks...

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Asphalt pours into road under melting rubber tires-
A horse with ribs like bars on a prison cell walks lazily under the suns oppression. 
Many people work for peanuts, unhinged cringes at the laughing ones working...

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This persona, picks up the mask he placed beside the bed
And the actor, feels the lines he’s already read
They hang their syllables on his tongue
As they breath into his lungs
Answered by a soft restraining sigh
As...

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I sat in the high chair with my legs crossed grasping for fresh air, perspiration is running down my dry face and my back is soaked with grace. The musky smell of the closet room...

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Lying awake listening to the sounds of sirens, echoing through the night
Alone in the apartment with his younger siblings, hoping his mother comes home all right
Drug addicts pounding on the front door, wanting to buy...

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A CHRISTMAS ARRAIGNMENT

Late one December evening
A sound woke me from my bed,
I grabbed a baseball bat for safety
And crept downstairs full of dread.

I must admit I was not fit
For foiling midnight burglaries.
My cousin had kept...

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