Concentric Circles
By Fady Joudah
Will you let life live its life, the sport
of souls seeking
a tiny sphere for an ordinary farewell?
Or will you bomb our shadows
and the pregnant rows
of palm trees, red and yellow dates
that recall autumn
and jaundiced newborns?
You are bombing the sea.
Did the fish declare
they’re Palestinian, too?
Here lies a beekeeper’s hand.
Here a little girl’s braids look
for their little girl
underground. We will not leave
until they reunite, the girl
and her braids. May they never.
The dragonflies, too,
the souls of boys
weigh them down.
Fady Joudah îs a poet for our times & all. He is the author of six collections; most recently, […]. He has translated several collections of poetry from Arabic and is the co-editor and co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize.