A New Poem by Fady Joudah

Palestinian poet, scholar, and educator Refaat Al-Areer’s poem “If I Must Die” was his pinned tweet when he was killed on December 7, 2023, when an an Israeli airstrike targeted the home in Shajaiya where he was staying with his brother, his sister, and his sister’s four children, who were also killed.

Since his death, Refaat’s pinned poem has been performed by actor Brian Cox; references have been spotted on stickers on the New York City subway; quotes have been carried on makeshift kites in protests; and it’s been translated into dozens of languages.

Here, a work by poet Fady Joudah in conversation with Refaat.

By Fady Joudah

Suddenly I

“in a blaze” died.

Suddenly time

quit lingering.

Suddenly you

can’t find my body,

can’t bury

what you can’t find.

My final poem,

I wrote years before

my hour arrived.

Suddenly my voice,

thought voiceless

because stateless,

gave voice

to a noisy world.

Suddenly “a kite.”

Suddenly I.

Fady Joudah îs a poet for our times & all. He is the author of five collections; most recently, Tethered to Stars. He has translated several collections of poetry from Arabic and is the co-editor and co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize.

Note that Jadaliyya will be hosting “Portrait of a Palestinian Life: Let it be a Tale,” a celebration of Refaat’s life, with testimony by Jehad Abusalim, hosted by Bassam Haddad, on Friday, 15 December 2023, 1:00 p.m. EST | 8:00 p.m. Palestine. The event will be livestreamed at youtube.com/jadaliyya.