Long Ultimatum 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 society
culture
religion
humane species
forgetting,
or more likely under-valuing,
how to regeneratively suffer loss
may never have learned to face our universal fear of death
as a badge of permaculturing respect,
dignity through suffering sacred absence
where once we knew nondual co-arising relational...

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The waters of the Holy Spirit stirred with strength
And commenced to churn itself alive inside the well,
Forming a new maelstrom so radiant it seemed to rise in special presentation,
Roaring its heartfelt existence known
Our prince roared...

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If you could look through any window
Of any house on any given street,
You might find yourself quite surprised 
At the variety of people you would meet.

The couple at number twenty-three
Have been married nearly seven years
They...

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IF EVER I HAD A COUNTRY: LXXIX -  Bang! Bang! Who Shot Me Down like an Un-licensed Dog !

IF ever I had a country, a country certainly 
not subject to the whistle of a...

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Inapropos trois faux pas jokingly blurted out...

yesterday August 30th, 2022.

The following fictitious account
predicated upon words spilling
out me mouth before taking time
to think through how sarcastic remark
would affect primary listener.

Comments about marital matters
particularly ours (yours truly...

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IF EVER I HAD A COUNTRY: LXXX -  Bang! Bang! Who Shot Me Down like an Un-licensed Pariah 
Dog ! Follow Up !

IF ever I had a country, a country without a dim shadow...

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Death leaves a sacred hole
where once lived a whole relationship
with both potential future
and a now more cherished past

Still seen
and heard
and smelled,
tasted and felt, sensed
and incensed
through an echoing hole of darkly bitter loss.

I would be a...

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Three Ice-Dragons of Zaath, are faring South,
They strip the landscape barren of all Love.
Each holds a lifeless Champion in its mouth,
Each imitates the wolf, and mocks the Dove…

Beware their icy maws, their shepherds’ clothing,
For they...

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"Hey Ray," shouted Jason, "After all of this time do  you still believe that the return
of Jesus Christ  is still very imminent?" 

"Hey Jason," replied Ray, "You used to believe that too, what...

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Somnambulant schlemiel schleps...and says Shalom...

to anonymous readers March 22nd, 2022
(blustery and chilly Tuesday)
reminiscing about mein kampf,
when precious irretrievable youth
frittered away within
emotional wilderness of mine.

Into lonely senescence -
more'n three plus decades 
plus three extra orbitz 
around...

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You can try your might
You can run all night
What's done in the dark will come out in the light
It can be messy
Pathetic 
Distorted 
Corroded 
Be ready to flight 
But what's done in the dark always...

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Schlerotic schlemiel schleps...and says Shalom...

to anonymous readers March 6th, 2021
(blustery and chilly Saturday)
reminiscing about mien kampf,
when precious irretrievable youth
frittered away within
emotional wilderness of mine.

Into lonely senescence -
three plus decades already elapsed
trepidation, hesitation, abdication... unbearably
tugging, shouldering,
remonstrating...

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I don't know who i am....
and why i dream all night
or how I'm going to get out of this situation
and when will my suffering of crying for the world
or the tears for myself i feel...

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All  of my children did come home
One at a time, almost like a metronome.

It made me happy, as I felt needed
Yet, when they wanted advice it was never heeded. 

I love them all with...

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Memory houses soul asylum vestige...
where complex edifice once anchoring
venerated Glen Elm demesne once stood,
now nothing except vinyl city!

I recall breathtaking, expansive, incredible
numerous, tremblingly awe inspiring views
billion miles (slight exaggeration) heavenly
sights comfortably ensconced, while perched
high atop...

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The shape of the world is not a man standing on a globe, or a man dressed in white robe, it is the shape of the heart that leaves you scrambling in the dark. It...

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(Mimic the song..."If I Only Had A Brain" by the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz)

I could be so independent

So lavish and resplendent

Just a player in the game

I would wield mighty powers

And be mesmerized for...

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I lie - what wife mine’d been saying (our solidarity betraying)
Was in fact much more dismaying: “Why have you not come before?
From our lives you’ve been absented – with your coming, I’m contented.”
Would I could...

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sitting across from me
you are a hanged man
sacrificing one of his eyes
for a chance at a sacred alphabet
at a chance to gamble to decipher
the blueprint of this life

When will you cheat death
and redefine your life
fortunetellers...

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He tried to smother her spirit, because he was afraid her voice would carry
He wanted to own her, so he asked her to marry
He thought I'll manipulate her, convince her my way is the only...

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Taken for granted
Everyday gone
Holding you back
Can’t be what you want
Now you’ve given up
You’ve broken free
You see everything differently
You have a choice, got make up your mind
Got no tape to stop and rewind
You’ve walked up to...

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Schlerotic schlemiel schleps...

Into lonely senescence -
three plus decades already elapsed
trepidation, hesitation unbearably
tugging, shouldering,
remonstrating accumulation
of "baggage" thumb

of right hand thrust out
silently raving, quaking
cursing ultimatum parents
(soffit to fascia in)
saw fit to fashion
and hammer home

red hot poker rage
their...

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Once there was a shepherd who walked amongst a mighty pasture. He tended to his sheep 24/7 and there was never a single activity that occurred within the pasture that the mighty shepherd was not...

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