Love in the times of al Nakba
By Siti Ruqaiyah Hashim.
My man
thank you
for trying to fathom
between the battles of the soul
and the waves of my love to you
and seeing every grain
more than
the dances of a gypsy woman
My man
you are getting closer
recognizing the rhytms of my footsteps
between the foggy dictions whispered
during our love dialogue
of yester year
while you were still dazed
guessing and testing
the enigmatic lake of my heart
the depth of the trench of my soul
at breakfast table
during lunch
dinner
during journey
when holding me tight
as if not letting me go
when we were parting
and in shyness of being watched
I buried my face of love on your chest
and you make me promised
I will not go back to miseries
My man
thank you
for still trying
to build bridges of understanding
until this moment
and not giving up easily
though engulfed by
darkness without even a word
My man
thank you
in waves of thorny obstacles
ocean of fire
and non-stop missiles
we are still there
as how you want it
as how I want it as what we promised
during the most beautiful fall of yesteryear
Thank you God.
Note: Al Nakba means catastrophe. It refers to the hundred of thousands of Palestinians expelled from their homeland in 1948 during the creation of state of Israel. Until today, the Palestinians are not allowed to go back to their country, contravening the Geneva Convention, thus the AlNakba remains.
