Poem

Najwan Darwish

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IN THE TRAP

The mouse in the trap says:
History is not on my side
the reptiles are all agents of men
and all mankind is against me
and reality too is against me

Yet despite all this I have faith
my progeny will prevail

© Translation: 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid

In de val

De muis in de val zegt
De geschiedenis is mij niet welgezind
Alle reptielen zijn handlangers van de mensen
En de mensen zijn tegen mij
De werkelijkheid is tegen mij
Maar ondanks alles geloof ik
Dat mijn nageslacht zal overwinnen

© Vertaling: 2012, Kees Nijland & Asad Jaber

© 2012, Najwan Darwish

Najwan Darwish

Najwan Darwish

(Palestine, 1978)

Najwan Darwish (1978) is one of the foremost Arabic-language poets of his generation. Since publishing his first collection in 2000, Darwish’s poetry has been translated into ten languages, including a recent French translation by Antoine Jockey, Je me lèverai un jour (2012). In 2009, Hay Festival Beirut39 pronounced him one of the 39 best Arab writers under the age of 40. He is also the liter...

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Poems of Najwan Darwish

A SMALL DAWN

JERUSALEM

IT’S NO USE

AWAKE

BELATED RECOGNITION

TAKEOFF

A CLARIFICATION

IDENTITY CARD

VOICELESS CHAMBERS

IN HELL

Close

IN THE TRAP

The mouse in the trap says:
History is not on my side
the reptiles are all agents of men
and all mankind is against me
and reality too is against me

Yet despite all this I have faith
my progeny will prevail

© 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid

IN THE TRAP

The mouse in the trap says:
History is not on my side
the reptiles are all agents of men
and all mankind is against me
and reality too is against me

Yet despite all this I have faith
my progeny will prevail

© 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid

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