Poem
Najwan Darwish
TO DRAW BACK THE BLINDS
To draw back the blinds and look at the skyto see the treetops relishing the play of the breeze
to think you’re a visitor here in a novel
or a melody wasted by the choir . . .
A soft bed is worth the sky
waking up free is worth a year of life
Then, from your room in a high-rise hotel
you look down upon the roofs
the satellite dishes and the treetops
and ask yourself, What’s the meaning
of trees swaying amid concrete buildings?
though the treetops are your sole consolation
and the only joy still left to you
Pass onto midday
which you call morning, you daytime sleeper:
Life awaits you
© Translation: 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid
Als je de gordijnen opent
Als je de gordijnen opent en naar de hemel kijktBoomtoppen ziet genieten van het spel van de wind
En bedenkt dat je hier bezoeker van een verhaal bent
Of deel van een lied dat door zangers werd overgeslagen . . .
Een goed bed is als de hemel
Vrij ontwaken is een jaar leven
Je kijkt uit het hoge hotelraam naar de daken,
Schotelantennes, boomtoppen
Je zegt bij jezelf: wat betekenen zwaaiende boomtoppen
Tussen betonnen kolossen
Al zijn boomtoppen je enig overgebleven kleine vreugde
En troost
Ga naar de middag
Die jij morgen noemt, slaapkop!
Het leven wacht op je
© Vertaling: 2012, Kees Nijland & Asad Jaber
© 2012, Najwan Darwish
From: Anthologie poétique
Publisher: Al-Feel Publications, Jerusalem
From: Anthologie poétique
Publisher: Al-Feel Publications, Jerusalem
Poems
Poems of Najwan Darwish
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TO DRAW BACK THE BLINDS
To draw back the blinds and look at the skyto see the treetops relishing the play of the breeze
to think you’re a visitor here in a novel
or a melody wasted by the choir . . .
A soft bed is worth the sky
waking up free is worth a year of life
Then, from your room in a high-rise hotel
you look down upon the roofs
the satellite dishes and the treetops
and ask yourself, What’s the meaning
of trees swaying amid concrete buildings?
though the treetops are your sole consolation
and the only joy still left to you
Pass onto midday
which you call morning, you daytime sleeper:
Life awaits you
© 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid
From: Anthologie poétique
From: Anthologie poétique
TO DRAW BACK THE BLINDS
To draw back the blinds and look at the skyto see the treetops relishing the play of the breeze
to think you’re a visitor here in a novel
or a melody wasted by the choir . . .
A soft bed is worth the sky
waking up free is worth a year of life
Then, from your room in a high-rise hotel
you look down upon the roofs
the satellite dishes and the treetops
and ask yourself, What’s the meaning
of trees swaying amid concrete buildings?
though the treetops are your sole consolation
and the only joy still left to you
Pass onto midday
which you call morning, you daytime sleeper:
Life awaits you
© 2012, Kareem James Abu-Zeid
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