Poem: Hands

HANDS

by L.Hashim-AlBayaa

small hands
smudged by hazelnut-filled chocolates
impatiently reach toward the neck of Sittu’s thobe

a leathery henna-stained hand emerges
with unhurried precision
tissue -- all but dissolved in salty wetness is unfolded

revealed
a shekel moist with old woman’s musk

a silent exchange ensues
one calloused hand (were there three fingers or four?)
claims its prize
while the other (this one has five) pours

dark liquid
its dizzying sweetness shocking the nose
flows into a glass no longer clear after three hours of customers

a moment long awaited
the kharoob feels syrupy and thick on the tongue
the day’s heat having leeched out the possibility of refreshing coolness
(that’s okay when life is not known to be refreshing)

(yes, it is four fingers!)

the four-fingered hand retrieves the glass
now not only cloudy, but decorated by chocolate finger prints
(a few more customers’ hands will rub them off)

Sittu smiles
her slow hand reaches down the neck of her thobe to pull out a hard caramel

small hands
in their never-ending search for sweetness
struggle to release the wrapper welded to the caramel by Sittu’s heat
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-------------------

trembling leathery hands wipe tears
flowing down a face creviced by memories of small hands
now hidden from sight beneath a white shroud.

Gaza: You, From Now On, Are Not Yourself

I felt it pertinent at this time to re-post an enlightening and sobering poem by the notable Palestinian National Poet, Mahmoud Darwish (1941 - August 2008) - may he rest in peace. This poem originally appeared in Al-Ayyam, June 17th, 2007.

You, From Now On... Are Not Yourself

Did we have to fall from a tremendous height so as to see our blood on our hands…to realize that we are no angels…as we thought?

Did we also have to expose our flaws before the world so that our truth would no longer stay virgin?

How much we lied when we said: we are the exception!

To believe oneself is worse than to lie to the other!

To be friendly with those who hate us and harsh on those who love us — that is the lowness of the arrogant and the arrogance of the low!

• O past: Do not change us whenever we stepped away from you!
• O future: do not ask us: who are you? and what do you want from me? Because we too, do not know.
• O present! Bear with us a little because we are nothing but insufferable passersby.

The identity is: what we bequeath and not what we inherit. What we invent and not what we remember. The identity is the corruption of the mirror that we must break whenever we liked the image!

He masked himself and pulled up his courage and killed his mother…because she was the easiest of prey…and because a female soldier stopped him and exposed her bosoms to him saying: Does your mother have ones like these?

Had it not been for shame and darkness, I would have visited Gaza without knowing the way to the home of the new Abu Sufian or the name of the new prophet!

Had Muhammad not been the last of the prophets, every gang would have had a prophet and every apostle had a militia!

June astonished us in its fortieth anniversary: if we do not find someone to defeat us again, we defeat ourselves with out hands so as not to forget!

No matter how long you look in my eyes, you will not find my gaze there. It was kidnapped by a scandal!

My heart is not mine and not for anyone. It became independent of me without turning into a stone.

Does the one chanting on the body of his victim-brother: “Allahu Akbar” know that he is an infidel since he sees God in his image: smaller than any perfectly created human.

The prisoner who seeks to inherit the prison hid the smile of victory from the camera, but he could not succeed in curbing the happiness that cascaded from his eyes.
Perhaps because the fast-paced script was stronger than the actor.

What is our need for Narcissus so long as we are Palestinians.

As long as we do not know the difference between the mosque and the university because they are derived from the same linguistic root, what is our need for a state so long as it and the day are facing one fate?

A large sign on the door of a nightclub: we welcome the Palestinians returning from the battle. Entry is free! And our wine does not intoxicate!

I cannot defend my right to work; a shoe shiner on the pavement.
Because my customers have the right to consider me a shoe thief – a university professor told me!

“The stranger and I are against my cousin. My cousin and I are against my brother…and my sheikh and I are against myself.” This is the first lesson in the new national education in the dungeons of darkness.

Who enters paradise first? The one who died by the bullets of the enemy or the one who died by the bullets of the brother?

Some theologians say: Many an enemy of yours that your mother gave birth to!

The fundamentalists do not exasperate me because they are believers in their special way. But, their secular supporters do and their atheist supporters, too, who only believe in one religion: their images on television!

He asked me: does a hungry guard defend a house whose owner traveled to spend his summer vacation at the French or the Italian Riviera…no difference?

I said: he does not defend!

He asked me: do I + I = two?

I said: you and you are less than one!

I am not ashamed of my identity because it is still in the process of being written. But I am ashamed of parts of the Prolegomenon of Ibn Khaldoun.

You, from now on, are not yourself!

Another Trip to Gaza

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Irish <iristulip@gmail.com>
To: gazafriends <gazafriends@lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 11:15:06 PM
Subject: We've done it again

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2008

For More Information, Please Contact:
Greta Berlin (Cyprus) +357 99 081 767 / iristulip@gmail.com
Osama Qashoo (Cyprus) +44 (0)78 3338 1660 / osamaqashoo@gmail.com
Angela Godfrey Goldstein (Jerusalem) +972 (0)54 736 6393 / angela@icahd.org

LARNACA - The Free Gaza Movement is delighted to announce that their third boat, the SS Dignity carrying 27 crew and passengers arrived in Gaza at 8:10 Gaza time, in spite of Israeli threats to stop them. In the pouring rain, the boat pulled into port amid cheers from the people of Gaza and tears from the passengers.

David Schermerhorn, one of the crew members called an hour before the boat entered the waters of Gaza and said, "There is a rainbow stretching across the Mediterranean from where we are right now."

Yesterday, The Israel Navy said they would stop the stop our vessel once it reached Israel's territorial waters. Apparently to save face, they said they would harm our boat, arrest us and tow us IF we entered Israeli waters. The problem for Israel is that the SS Dignity had no intention of getting anywhere near those waters.

One of the organizers, Huwaida Arraf cheered, "Once again we've been able to defy an unjust and illegal policy while the rest of the world is too intimidated to do anything. Our small boat is a huge cry to the international community to follow in our footsteps and open a lifeline to the people of Gaza."

For the second time, the Free Gaza Movement has demonstrated that the might of the Israeli navy is no match for a small boat of human rights activists determined to call to the attention of the world the occupation of the people of Gaza.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council added, "Despite the injustice against the Palestinian people, we believe in justice and will keep on trying to break Israel's siege. The occupation has divided the Palestinians, but our nonviolent resistance has united us."

Osama Qashoo, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, overjoyed for the second time in three months, "We are all capable of leading a nonviolent and effective movement to end the Israeli Apartheid and expose the injustice that has been meted out to the Palestinians. We in the FG movement have provided the new dictionary, it's up to the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Internationals to add the words."

--
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357...
www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/