Nathalie Handal’s New Poem, ‘Freedom’

I don’t want to borrow too much from Palestinian-American poet Nathalie Handal‘s “Freedom,” published this week in Guernica. But I did want to make sure you saw the poem. It requires no introduction.

Freedom

               The Arab Revolt 2011

The story begins
with a song—
it’s stubborn,
breaks air
into history;
for a minute
it’s quiet
to allow everyone in,
and then it raises
to celebrate voices,
clears its throat,
says:

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