Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Najwan Darwish

A SMALL DAWN

You shone like daybreak in the mind
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death had taken
You were a dead man the voyage had taken
And all we did—in surprise at your return—
was run through our country
torn apart by fences, hijacked
by the settlers’ grim buildings

We don’t know the nature of this canal that brought us to the sea
nor which buildings or sidewalks or doleful dawn we suffered
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death brought back
You were a dead man the voyage brought back
while I was polishing a jewel in the mind….

I cannot believe that death and the voyage
took you, then brought you back

Een vroege morgen

Jij schitterde bij het aanbreken van een vroege morgen in de geest
Ik geloofde het niet:
Jij was een reiziger in de greep van de dood
Een dode in de greep van de reis
Alles wat wij deden – verbaasd over jouw terugkeer – was rennen
In ons door hekken verdeelde land, bezet met grimmige woongebouwen van kolonisten
Wij weten niets van dit kanaal dat ons naar zee brengt
Niets van de gebouwen, trottoirs en droeve morgen die ons beproefden
Ik geloofde het niet
Jij was een reiziger die de dood had teruggebracht
Jij was een dode die de reis had teruggebracht
Ik liet een edelsteen fonkelen in de geest
En geloofde niet dat de dood en de reis
Jou hadden gegrepen en teruggebracht

Close

A SMALL DAWN

You shone like daybreak in the mind
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death had taken
You were a dead man the voyage had taken
And all we did—in surprise at your return—
was run through our country
torn apart by fences, hijacked
by the settlers’ grim buildings

We don’t know the nature of this canal that brought us to the sea
nor which buildings or sidewalks or doleful dawn we suffered
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death brought back
You were a dead man the voyage brought back
while I was polishing a jewel in the mind….

I cannot believe that death and the voyage
took you, then brought you back

A SMALL DAWN

You shone like daybreak in the mind
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death had taken
You were a dead man the voyage had taken
And all we did—in surprise at your return—
was run through our country
torn apart by fences, hijacked
by the settlers’ grim buildings

We don’t know the nature of this canal that brought us to the sea
nor which buildings or sidewalks or doleful dawn we suffered
I could not believe it:
You were a voyager death brought back
You were a dead man the voyage brought back
while I was polishing a jewel in the mind….

I cannot believe that death and the voyage
took you, then brought you back
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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