International

‘The Earth Was A Homeland’: Poems For Palestine

Palestinian artist Ibrahim Alsultan writes poems for his homeland of Palestine.

Advertisement

Photo: Ibrahim Alsultan
info_icon

The Earth Was A Homeland

The land we lived and loved,
Today reveals a state of pain,
A land that was once a homeland,
Now its joy has been stolen, and its spirit has been betrayed.

The beauty that once adorned its skies,
Is now covered without you by clouds of endless sorrow,
Our dreams, like stars, have faded away,
In this land that is drenched in blood and pain.

O my homeland, cursed and treacherous,
Our hopes drowned in you in tears of goodbye and loss,
Our hearts are bound by chains of pain,
Freedom and hope have left our gates.

Spirits that once flew free,
Have become tainted with despair and pain,
Laughter that once filled the air with joy,
Now, where has it gone?

Advertisement

Our voices are being silenced,
And our rights are being stolen,
In the darkness,
Truth hides,
Our souls are broken,
Our dreams are stolen,
A broken nation that cannot heal its wounds.

But in the darkest of the darkest night,
A spark of hope still burns inside us,
A flame that yearns for revolution to seize freedom,
To rise above, to rise again.
To be reborn

We curse the land that causes us pain,
But deep within us, we carry the fire,
To rebuild, to rise above, to heal the wounds, to lift us higher.

Even in the darkness of this bitter moment,
Our love for you will not fade,
In every heart, hope hangs,
That we will find a better and brighter day.

Advertisement

So let us curse the land that brings us sorrow,
But let us embrace the love that keeps us strong,
In unity, we will heal the wounds, and we will regain the anthem of our homeland.

info_icon
Photo: Ibrahim Alsultan

I Am Not Afraid

I am not afraid of anything
For the more I suffer the more I love
Danger only increases my love
It will sharpen it and keep it eager

I will be the only angel you need
You will leave life better than you entered it
The sky will return you and look at you and say
One thing can only complete the soul
And that thing is love

info_icon
Photo: Ibrahim Alsultan

I Will Die Now

I will die now to see God
I will carry my soul with me
I will be free
From the cage of this body
That encircles my heart
Here I will be free
And I will not be broken

I will release the birds of this heart
Birds of peace
In a sky that has not known peace
And has not left a dream for mankind
I will release them all at last
Birds of my freedom
And the remnants of my smile

And I will accept my loneliness
And my death
As a sacrifice for you, O God
Will this ruin stop?
Will the torment be erased in our place?

Advertisement

I will be a sacrifice for peace for humanity
For that homeland and child
For every mother and father
I will be a sacrifice for a life, not for salvation
I will die
For a cup of coffee from the earth
Next to my father and in front of my mother's eyes
Will you accept, O God?

I will die

And whatever remains of me, take it and burn it and scatter it
For the remaining birds of peace
For the rest of the dreams

And I will go to you, O God, will you answer?
I will go to you in the world of dreams
With my heart and the birds of peace
To light the candle of peace and security
Here in my heart is a noise of roses and flowers
And in my hand a pen that writes a poem of peace
Will this ruin stop now, O God?!

Advertisement

Advertisement