SABBATICAL 20: "Mish Mish"

"In the Time of the Apricots"

By the Palestinian poet, Carol Sansour
Kotob Khan ed., Cairo, 2019 – translation Youssef Rakha
Video: HERE

I shall plough
everywhere
and move on
Out of your soul’s press
and your body’s distillery
I shall be drunk on your last breath
In the palms of your hands
I shall place all of me

All time will pass
Me and you
everywhere
we shall be

- -

And while we are aware of our profound sadness
we force our bodies to pass through infinite tunnels
where the world is preoccupied with perfecting its plans
to eliminate our children

Q: You are an Arab artist?
A: Me? God forbid! I am a criminal, thank God. God was merciful and kind to me.

-- -

The mornings green, yellow
and honey hued
In the time of the apricots
The smell of burning sugar
Children playing in the dust
while my mother makes coffee
and milk and tea
My mother
In the time of the apricots
Always my mother