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THE VOICE AND THE MIRROR—
POEMS FROM PALESTINE
KAMAL BOULLATA

PALESTINIAN poetry is the fervent language of the Palestinian masses extemporaneously composed by poets to serve immediate needs. It has not—so to speak—been written “for eternity.” The poet here is a witness to a bitter reality in constant motion. His voice merely echoes the pace of the ongoing struggle as it takes shape and with its development, his voice unfolds. The Palestinian poets are part of the crowd. The majority never had the chance for any education beyond high school. Most of them are under thirty years of age. This is a poetry that came about mainly to be recited to compact audiences in the open fields of Galilee, a village square in Nazareth, or an arid refugee camp on the banks of the Jordan.

The poetic idiom is brief and simple. The content of each poem determines its form. The flow of imagery may be limited, at times unsophisticated, but the impact of these poems on the Palestinian masses has been profound because they spell their day-to-day experiences with courage. The language may sound florid, at times melancholic or tragic, but always defiant. It is a poetry of necessity, not of luxury. Darweesh states:

I will write it with my nails
eye sockets and dagger
I will recite it in my prison cell
in the bathroom
in the stable
under the whip
under the chains
despite my handcuffs.

At one time this poetry was the only weapon left in the hands of a peasant population who found themselves either living as a third


Translations from Arabic by Kamal Boullata, Sulafa Hijjawi, Rashed Hussein, Abdul Wahab Al Messiri, Nasseer Aruri.

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-21 09:10:12