Poem in Four: Stranger Than Fiction: Stories from Palestine
2021; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 95; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/wlt.2021.0007
ISSN1945-8134
Autores Tópico(s)Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
Resumo54 WLT SUMMER 2021 a POETRY Poem in Four Stranger Than Fiction: Stories from Palestine by Samah Sabawi Scene 1 – Operation Sperm in Womb Think of her As they loosen your chains As they lower you down As the soles of your feet Touch the bloodstained ground Think of her As they tie you naked To the interrogation chair After the waterboarding As you gasp for air Think of her After the beating Think of her After the torture Think of her Alone in your cell Think . . . think . . . think . . . think . . . think . . . Of her Then empty the seeds of your love into the candy wrapper Think of him Wrapper concealed in the folds of your dress Armed guards pushing you back into the bus Visiting hours are over but hope stretches past The dogs that bark . . . the dogs that shoot and the dogs that watch Think of him As the women gather in your house Think of him As they beat on the drums, sing and dance Think of him As they swap stories of love and romance Think of him As you lay down on your bed think of him As you part your legs think of him As you unfold the candy wrapper Think . . . think . . . think . . . think . . . think . . . think . . . Of him Then bask in the glory of the immaculate conception Scene 2 – A Secret for Two Two hands embrace through the iron bars His eyes search hers for answers Did you We did Am I We are Her words were silent whispers I carry the promise of you Locked up in the deep of me A secret savored for fleeting moments In a world of eternity He serenaded her The mother of his child to be Samah Sabawi is a Palestinian Australian Canadian playwright and poet. Her theater credits include the multiaward -winning plays Tales of a City by the Sea and THEM. Sabawi dedicates her work onstage and on the page to resisting the horrors of colonialism and the bitterness of exile. KHAIR ALAH SALIM / COURTESY OF THE ARTIST Z WORLDLIT.ORG 55 I dance for you on the edge of hope And when the wind blows through me I vow to play my heart for you A tender symphon Scene 3 – Waiting I wait for you I wait for him I wait for him in you For his curls in your hair For his brown in your eyes For his pearls in your smile For his love in your embrace For his courage in your heart For his stubbornness in your footsteps And his tenderness in your caress I wait for you I wait for him I wait for him in you I pass the time watching children play Between walls and watchtowers I pass the time waiting at checkpoints I wait and wait for hours I pass the time counting curfews Counting night raids Counting gas canisters rubber bullets and martyrs I pass the time squinting at the sky searching the sky for answers I pass the time waiting I wait for a glimpse of you I wait for you I wait for him I wait for him in you Scene 4 – The Birth – Case #70 This is not how I imagined it would be Legs parted on the blood-soaked dirt Strangers rolling up my skirt Hands pulling down my undies Guns and phones pointing at me UN observers counting indignities They write me down They write down me They write me down . . . a number I’m case #70 Sixty-nine women before me Not one . . . not two . . . not three I inhale strength and sumud And exhale their cruelty I’m not a stray animal left on the dirt That ambulance they block is for me I booked a hospital room I decorated a nursery I even prepared a music playlist To reduce my anxiety But all of this is out of reach I’m case #70 I push . . . I push . . . I push Can I have some privacy? I inhale the wisdom of a thousand matriarchs And the patience of a million refugees And I exhale fear and tyranny I inhale the scent of lemon The fragrance of jasmine The warmth of your skin The...
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