Two Poems from Gaza by Dana Flaifl: Pre-order and Support
French publisher Fidel Anthelme X is planning to bring out a bilingual Arabic-French collection by Palestinian poet Dana Flaifl, Tout ce que j’ai c’est l’écriture, avec elle je résiste, translated to the French by Lotfi Nia. The publisher does not have funding for this book, and printing costs are just over €1,000. The book is scheduled for release in January 2026, and the publisher is now offering the book for sale at €10 + €3 shipping (in France), to raise the necessary funds for its publication. To support Fidel Anthelme X, we offer two of Dana’s poems translated to English.
Find out more and order at the publisher’s website.
How Long?
By Dana Flaifl
Translated by Layla Salma
How long
Since we forgot the shape of sleep,
Its gentle surrender,
Its quiet descent?
Now, when it visits,
We wake without a whisper,
Unaware of when our eyes last closed.
How long
Have we eaten without hunger,
Chewing through silence,
As if duty, not desire, fills our mouths?
When did we stop meeting our own reflections?
When did the elegance of our clothing fade,
As if our souls were cloaked only
In heavy robes of weariness and silent sorrow?
How long
Has emptiness flooded our days,
Filling every corner of our lives?
When did we forget the taste of rest,
The gentle touch of peace?
How long
Since we walked away from home,
Since waiting stretched on beyond time,
Leaving us stranded like this?
How long
Silence all of it quietly slipped away?
*
منذ متى؟
منذ متى
ونحن لم نعد نعرف كيف صار شكل
النوم؟ وإن حظينا ببعضه
نصحو بلا منبّه
دون أن نعرف في أي ساعة أطبقنا الجفون؟
منذ متى ونحن لا نجوع؟
نأكل رغماً
عنا منذ متى؟
لا يهمنا كيف نسير
وأين نريد للخطى أن
تكون؟ منذ متى؟
لا نطالع المرآة، لا نهتم بأناقة ما
نرتديه، ونشعر أن أرواحنا
يركد فيها اليأس
والتعب. منذ متى؟
يملأ الفراغ
حياتنا؟ منذ متى؟
نسينا الراحة والاطمئنان.
منذ متى؟
غادرنا البيت
وطال الانتظار، وأصبحنا هكذا
منذ متى رحل كل هذا عنا؟
Poppy anemone
By Dana Flaifl
Translated by Layla Salma
I grind poetry
now turned to dust
within the millstone of a memory
that lost its way.
A darkness,
wrapped in its own shadows,
clings to me,
yet will not arrive.
It stains my purity
with the crimson of its petals,
devours the horrors
breathing inside me,
and binds the pulses
of my yearning.
My orchards weep
for what has left me.
A stubborn coma
holds my body captive,
refusing a final farewell.
A tank invades the silence
that once saved me,
sweeping away the last traces of my paths,
while I am betrayed by
the pounding of my heart.
Goodbye, my flower.
Without you,
I am not,
and will not
be.
*
شقيقة نعمان
أطحنُ شعرًا أضحى غبارًا في رحى ذكرايَ
ضلَّ طريقي
لازمنِي نورُ سوادهِ
وأبَى المجيءَ
لطَّخ بياضي بحُمرةٍ
بتلاتُها استطاب أهوالَ
أنفاسي وقيدَ منابضِ
أشواقي
تجهشُ بساتيني بالبكاءِ على ما
غادرني، تأبى غيبوبةٌ لا تفيقُ وداعَ
جسدي
تحتلُّ زنزانةُ صمتٍ أغاثني
تجرفُ دبابةٌ بقايا سبلاتي
وضجيجُ قلبي يفضحني
وداعًا يا وردتي
فأنا بدونكِ
لا أكونُ ولن
أكونُ.
Dana Flaifl is a young Palestinian poet in Gaza.
Layla Salma is an emerging writer and poet, writing to you from Gaza. Her writings are shaped by the violent impact of war and the weight of the ongoing genocide. Through her words, she attempts to convey her voice to the world and give her poems a chance to find their audience.