Where can I exist?
Where can I live?
Where can I go?
Where can I be?
Without being
Unwelcomed,
Denied,
Threatened,
Harassed,
Orientalized,
Or colonized.
Without feeling
Violated,
Exiled,
Imprisoned,
Restricted,
Deprived,
And dehumanized
What are my options?
Or rather,
Where are my options?
Why my existence they so fear
they wish I leave and disappear?
Why my identity so much matters
all my freedoms and rights shatter?
I now believe.
Nowhere there was ever a place for me
Where I could shine
And injustice was not mine.
I searched for some space
Where I could rest my spine.
Breathe, be free and fine.
But, I found no home
That could be mine.
Alas, at no place
I was allowed to dine,
Sing or sigh
Live or whine.
Everywhere,
I am always
Unapproved,
Undocumented,
And declined.
Justice? Peace? Where can I find?
Where can I live? Where can I reside?
Unthreatened,
In harmony,
With the mankind.
Unanswered,
I was left,
Wondering.
Where can I at least resign?
Then I finally realized,
Wherever I go,
I will always be underlined,
Defined,
Denied,
Occupied,
And
Exiled.
Very nice. It describes the pain and suffering, that the world just cannot get.
Always in exile. My husband’s Palestinian family is scattered all over the globe: Canada, US, Denmark, UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, South Korea. It’s amazing what Israel has done to Palestinian families. The generations are all separated and scattered because people have to go where they can get visas and work permits.
Eloquent and powerful. I might say ironic as well, but that hardly seems strong enough.
Elegiac.
Thank you, Fidaa Abuassi. I will not cease trying to help you and every Palestinian be free in your home that is Palestine, and wish you freedom and respect wherever you choose to be/go.
Thanks for including the art by Ismail Shammout, too. It is a perfect illustration to your words. Long live Palestine and you.
(http://ismail-shammout.com/)
This poem is devastating. It is a eulogy for humanity., except that there nothing to praise about humanity.