Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Words
O those who pass between fleeting words
Carry your names, and be gone
Rid our time of your hours, and be gone
Steal what you will from the blueness of the sea
And the sand of memory
Take what pictures you will, so that you understand
That which you never will:
How a stone from our land builds the ceiling of our sky
... From you steel and fire, from us our flesh
From you yet another tank, from us stones
From you teargas, from us rain
... As bitter dust, go where you wish, but
Do not pass between us like flying insects
... Pile your illusions in a deserted pit, and be gone
... And we have what you lack
A bleeding homeland of a bleeding people ...
It is time for you to be gone
Live wherever you like, but do not live among us
It is time for you to be gone
Die wherever you like, but do not die among us
... So leave our country
Our land, our sea
Our wheat, our salt, our wounds
Everything, and leave
The memories of memory
those who pass between fleeting words!
--Mahmoud Darwish 1988
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