Green Blood

A poem from the diwan "Qurban" ("Offering"), now in press, by Thurayya Malhas, author of "The Wandering Anthem."

Green Blood

Would that I had been born of you,
O tree
Would that I had drawn
from you
blood
that is green
Would that I had not been born
of a human,
red!

Take me, O tree
Undo my veins
let my blood run out
Set me on your palm
an offering
Set me in your fruit
an embryo

Return me to yourself
return me
an embryo

Cast me
into the land of Abqar
Cast me —
I will not be
of a human,
red!

Would that I had been born of you,
O tree
that my blood might have stayed
free,
pure,
green

A Vagrant

Rage, O my wounds
tear my bonds
sever the limbs
from me
and scatter the fragments
away from me
and braid the sorrows

Where is my homeland, O time?
Where is my nation, O ages?
How should I know?
A stranger am I
in this land

How can I yearn?
Sorrowful am I
the whole span long

I have no homeland
for which
to long
I have no country
toward which
to journey

How happy you are, O spirit
You are free, singing
But I
am a slave, a captive