|
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Subject: ARABS Matches Found: 307 UPDATE command denied to user 'poetryex_users'@'localhost' for table `poetryex_poems`.`subcnt` 1. SOLITUDE, by 'ENAYAT JABER Poem Source First Line: The boxes, %having waited so long Last Line: Or heed the evils of bad company Subject(s): Arabs - Women 2. CLARITY, by 'ENAYAT JABER Poem Source First Line: My desire is %to open the door, %even when the knock is faint Last Line: A moment is not moments, %or a place to let go Subject(s): Arabs - Women 24 AT THE DOOR OF ANTICIPATION, by HALA MOHAMMAD Poem Source First Line: I sat %weaving seconds %on a tiny straw chair Last Line: At the door of anticipation, %I have chairs lined up Subject(s): Arabs - Women 27, by LINA TIBI Poem Source First Line: Striding, shuddering %I leave behind a summer, a winter Last Line: It is only when listening to you %that I love my life Subject(s): Arabs - Women 3. SMELL, by 'ENAYAT JABER Poem Source First Line: Small but splendid is, %the disappearing vision Last Line: Why the ribbons when they kill my poetry? Subject(s): Arabs - Women 4 WHAT AM I CHASING?, by HALA MOHAMMAD Poem Source First Line: From afar I beheld him %like a magic carriage Last Line: No trace of him %no trace Subject(s): Arabs - Women 4. CIRCLE, by 'ENAYAT JABER Poem Source First Line: He breathed deeply, %when the street awoke Last Line: Overflows from her hands, roaming %on his back Subject(s): Arabs - Women 43 THE MAN WHO OFFERS ME HIS CHEST, by HALA MOHAMMAD Poem Source First Line: To whose chest I give my five senses %has long been placing Last Line: Been giving his chest %just a head Subject(s): Arabs - Women 58 LOVE BURNED OUT THE LIGHT, by HALA MOHAMMAD Poem Source First Line: With all my possessions %I listened to it Last Line: My walls %until the darkness was burned Subject(s): Arabs - Women A FANTASY, by MATHILDE BLIND Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: I was an arab Last Line: And all my woe. Alternate Author Name(s): Lake, Claude Subject(s): Arabs; Homesickness ABANDONMENT, by AL-ZAHRA AL- MANSOURI Poem Source First Line: Like an extinguished star, %in the sea's bed she sleeps Last Line: Salwa, the remnants of grief Subject(s): Arabs - Women ABOUT THE MEN, by ADELE NE JAME Poem Source First Line: The white moon, perfect %in the desert sky, in its precisely Last Line: Somewhere, the inaccuracy %beginning Subject(s): Arabs - Women ABSENT, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: When pigeons returned %to the roof of the house, we said Last Line: Wrote upon the clouds' palm a symbol %and hid within the folds of words Subject(s): Arabs - Women AFTER, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: We had been looking at an idol in a glass case Last Line: There is absence, unreadable Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Graves; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine ALL OVER REHAVIA, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: And all the children %have gone back to school Subject(s): Arabs; Europe; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine ALTHOUGH THE SKY..., by ELMAZ ABINADER Poem Source First Line: Reaches down like a hood %and meets the horizon on my left and right Last Line: To the next, sun set and moon rise %in one breath Subject(s): Arabs - Women AN ARAB WELCOME, by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH Poem Text Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Because thou com'st, a weary guest Last Line: With the same pleasure that he gives him bread! Subject(s): Arabs AND THEN YOU WERE PEELING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Our luggage unopened %at the door Subject(s): Arabs; Hearts; Jerusalem; Jews; Love; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine AND YOU ON MY BIRTHDAY, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Prayer %on a grain of rice Subject(s): Arabs; Birthdays; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine ARAB AND JEW IN ALASKA, by GREGORY ORFALEA Poem Source First Line: Two sons of sem, called by an unknown Last Line: And alone. Someday, again, %home Subject(s): Alaska; Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews ARABIAN BALLAD, by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: Under the rock -- on the trail Last Line: They could not rise into the air. Subject(s): Arabs ARABIC (JORDAN, 1992), by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The man with laughing eyes stopped smiling Last Line: In every language and opened its doors. Subject(s): Arabic Language; Arabs - Women; Grief; Jordan; Pain; Sorrow; Sadness; Suffering; Misery ARABINNOCENTS, by JOANNA KADI Poem Source First Line: Tuesday, torrential downpours blackened %every corner of the sky Last Line: Open a hole %dissolve the rock Subject(s): Arabs - Women ARABS, by ALFRED FRANCIS KREYMBORG Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Melancholy lieth dolorously ill Subject(s): Arabs ARGUMENTS, by LISA SUHAIR MAJAJ Poem Source First Line: Consider the infinite fragility of an infant's skull Last Line: How in these words %the world %cracks open Subject(s): Arabs - Women AS IF IN FLAW, OR IN THE FLAW OF SPACE, SELS, by SABAH AL-KHARRAT ZWEIN Poem Source First Line: An abysmal circle is in the sky. At the moment we are an infinite line Last Line: Now I stand below the arch of the old window, the opposite window. %today, the face is in the sky Subject(s): Arabs - Women ASPARAGUS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: When I saw the asparagus stand up in one bunch Last Line: Have to watch where we're going or simply make do Subject(s): Arabs; Asparagus; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Vegetables AUTUMN ROSE, by AMAL MOUSSA Poem Source First Line: In crystal %I slept for three seasons, %then the drunkenness of sleep awoke me Last Line: Grass bursts forth, %and in autumn %my rose blooms Subject(s): Arabs - Women AWAKENING, by FAWZIYYA AL- SINDI Poem Source First Line: Awaken, %oh, boughs of passion %saddle the wind with your exhausted words Last Line: Shaking the boughs of fear and love... %awaken Subject(s): Arabs - Women BAALBECK, by NADIA TUENI Poem Source First Line: When the sun strikes a tall dead tree Last Line: Baalbeck is a gift from the world of measures Subject(s): Arabs - Women BANNERS OF THE HEART, by FAWZIYYA AL- SINDI Poem Source First Line: I confess %I disperse, %like blood shed from the soil's raindrops Last Line: My voice besieged as a river as it reads Subject(s): Arabs - Women BECAUSE THEY HESITATED BETWEEN ROSES AND DARKNESS, by VENUS KHOURY-GHATA Poem Source First Line: Because they loaded their rifles with rain Last Line: When they draw a blade in the mouth of a sundial Subject(s): Arabs - Women BECAUSE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: To measure a fence Subject(s): Arabs; Depression, Mental; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine BEDOUIN EYES, by DIMA HILAL Poem Source First Line: My hands turn to claws, tear %newspapers declare war Last Line: Weakens %forces my body to sink to the floor Subject(s): Arabs - Women BEDOUIN WOMEN, by SHULAMIT APFEL Poem Source First Line: Where did that bedouin woman %get all her strength Last Line: Leading himself, entirely awake, weaned, tasting milk in the air Subject(s): Arabs - Women BEDOUIN [LOVE] SONG, by BAYARD TAYLOR Poem Text Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: From the desert I come to thee Last Line: And the leaves of the judgment book unfold! Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard Subject(s): Arabs; Love BEIRUT, by CLAIRE GEBEYLI Poem Source First Line: For beirut I write Last Line: Whiteness the tombstones and the cornfields Subject(s): Arabs - Women BEIRUT, by NADIA TUENI Poem Source First Line: Let her be courtesan, scholar or saint Last Line: Where man can dress himself in light Subject(s): Arabs - Women BLACK INK BLACK PAINT, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Whiter %and more strange Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Paintings And Painters; Palestine BLIND CITY, by MONA SAUDI Poem Source First Line: In its streets my visions multiply %in the chaos of objects Last Line: There, life glows in an instant %born in a puddle of light Subject(s): Arabs - Women BLIND GODDESS, by FADHILA CHABBI Poem Source First Line: And the blind goddess, when we touched her %like a twinkling of the eye Last Line: And it was the insolence of the ages Subject(s): Arabs - Women BOAT ON THE PACIFIC, by NAJAAT AL- UDWANY Poem Source First Line: Age is what chaff %that shudders %in the palms of the tempest Last Line: She is calling upon us %to come to her bosom, %which is swollen with woes! Subject(s): Arabs - Women BOY IN A HOSPITAL, by DIANA HELEN MELHEM Poem Source First Line: Boy in a hospital %lying among suddenly ancient ruins Last Line: To run along the beach %your hand safely in your father's Subject(s): Arabs - Women BREATH, by DEEMA K. SHEHABI Poem Source First Line: You come to me from the oldest wound of wind Last Line: And suddenly catch you in the deepest edges of their children's eyes Subject(s): Arabs - Women BROKEN AND BEIRUT, by SUHEIR HAMMAD Poem Source First Line: No mistakes made here %these murders are precise %mathematical Last Line: And how sweet honey %on the lips of survivors Subject(s): Arabs - Women BUTTERFLIES OF ANXIETY, by NAJAAT AL- UDWANY Poem Source First Line: A vein under my skin %sneaking. %your blood, %which reminds me of the swords Last Line: A sea %nor found %before me someone to fight! Subject(s): Arabs - Women CARGO MOVING TO GAZA (1988), by MARVIN BELL Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: A tree donated years back struggles Subject(s): Arabs; Israel (state); Life; Middle East - Conflicts; Arab-israeli Conflict CARTHAGE, by NAJAAT AL- UDWANY Poem Source First Line: I am the desert %between my folds- %the memory laments Last Line: Would you accept %my suicide? Subject(s): Arabs - Women CEDARS, by NADIA TUENI Poem Source First Line: I salute you, %you who draw life %from a single root Last Line: I love you as man loves breath %you are the first poem Subject(s): Arabs - Women CEMETERY AT PETIT SACONNEX, by DEEMA K. SHEHABI Poem Source First Line: No earthbound morning is this %when we walk together Last Line: To the parched blossom of time, %wrinkled with longing Subject(s): Arabs - Women CHADOR, by KAREN SWENSON Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: In a taxi in isfahan we have no language Last Line: As the river bosoms the brooch of the sun. Subject(s): Arabs - Women; Travel; Journeys; Trips CHALDEAN RUINS, by DUNYA MIKHAIL Poem Source First Line: Ascetic %he emerges from its belly into the grave Last Line: What happened, or what is left Subject(s): Arabs - Women CHARTREUSE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Far away in the french alps near grenoble the carthusian monks Last Line: The airport falls, if it isn't the life we expected, something close Subject(s): Arabs; Herbs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Ruins CHILDHOOD, by HODA HUSSEIN Poem Source First Line: I want to make a toast to some victory Last Line: With the tip of a thermometer %up her bottom Subject(s): Arabs - Women CHOKING, by SANIYYAH SALEH Poem Source First Line: Every time I am bound towards you %my roads turn into dust Last Line: Go back to your death %mythic woman Subject(s): Arabs - Women CHOLERA, by NAZIK AL- MALAIKA Poem Source First Line: It is night. %listen to the echoing wails Last Line: O egypt, my heart is torn by the ravages of death Subject(s): Arabs - Women CITY LEVITATES, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: I'm back %in the unmade bed Subject(s): Arabs; Cities; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine COMMANDMENTS, by LAMIA ABBAS AMARA Poem Source First Line: All no's become yes's under the law %don't lie. %lie! Last Line: And each coin two sides %and so justice %and so freedom Subject(s): Arabs - Women COUNTRY, by FAWZIYYA ABU-KHALID Poem Source First Line: Her hair is long, very, very long Last Line: She bathes in rain gushing forth her lap %and she dreams Subject(s): Arabs - Women COUNTRY,SELS, by DIANA HELEN MELHEM Poem Source First Line: To write the country %as a poem Last Line: Retaining the once-dazzled vision %as a portable lost occasion Subject(s): Arabs - Women CUSP OF DESIRE, by MAYSOUN SAQR AL- QASIMI Poem Source First Line: He is the source of hot forests Last Line: It's then that he shrinks Subject(s): Arabs - Women DAILY RITUAL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: The world ali says %and dreams Subject(s): Ali, Muhammad (cassius Clay); Arabs; Boxing And Boxers; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Poetry And Poets DANGER, MEN IN TREES, by DORIS SAFIE Poem Source First Line: Quietly, they take on the color and shape Last Line: I'd change his course forever Subject(s): Arabs - Women DAWN FAIRY, by DUNYA MIKHAIL Poem Source First Line: You are changing... %you have changed greatly Last Line: And out of our longing make %a home for all the birds Subject(s): Arabs - Women DEAREST LOVE, by SALMA KHADRA JAYYUSI Poem Source First Line: Dearest love, listen Last Line: I married my cousin after all Subject(s): Arabs - Women DEATH OF RACHEL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: All day she stirs the soup Last Line: She stirs the dust into dust Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine DEPARTURE, by MAI SAYIGH Poem Source First Line: In this the moment of departure, %point your red arrows Last Line: Now you collect all the wounds, taking refuge with %death, %wearing dreams as wings Subject(s): Arabs - Women DIASPORA, by S. V. ATALLA Poem Source First Line: After so long %to stand at your dresser %hairpins %in the dusty cup Last Line: And every day your smooth hair %holding them all together Subject(s): Arabs - Women DIFFERENT MORNING ALTOGETHER, by DIMA HILAL Poem Source First Line: The rain thunders on the roof %the balcony railing %and umbrellas of kids Last Line: But I only hear the rush of rain Subject(s): Arabs - Women DOOR OF ROSES, by MUNIA SAMARA Poem Source First Line: Doomsday of wind %talk of the garden %ambush of rubies Last Line: Everything in it %reveals hateful desire Subject(s): Arabs - Women DOOR OF THE CITIES, by MUNIA SAMARA Poem Source First Line: The scandal of this universe %and its joke Last Line: And on its borders bark %the enemies' rifles Subject(s): Arabs - Women DRACULA, by SALWA AL- NEIMI Poem Source First Line: Revolting against the lips %the long pointed fang was facing me Last Line: Myopic, I pretended to watch the passersby Subject(s): Arabs - Women DREAM RECALLING A TEMPTATION, by MAYSOUN SAQR AL- QASIMI Poem Source First Line: ...And when he was awakened by the cold, she was washing her hair Last Line: All in all on the verge of transfiguration Subject(s): Arabs - Women ELEGY OF A KNIGHT: 1. SEPTEMBER, by FADWA TUQAN Poem Source First Line: Death's carnival was at its height, amman Last Line: Give us your catch, o sea, for this day is a feast, %oh what a feast! Subject(s): Arabs - Women ELEGY OF A KNIGHT: 2. THE REDEEMER, by FADWA TUQAN Poem Source First Line: In the paroxysm of blood and fire, and the flood of insanity Last Line: From the ashes of death he shall come, %his death is birth, he shall surely come Subject(s): Arabs - Women EMACIATED TEETH, by FATMA KANDIL Poem Source First Line: Where do these trees come form %like a volcano pressing on the window Last Line: The scrolls were lifted off %the spearheads of boughs Subject(s): Arabs - Women EMBROIDERED MEMORY, by LORENE ZAROU-ZOUZOUNIS Poem Source First Line: Arabic tapestry embroidered %into my soul %is my memory %of home Last Line: Growing with design %to touch, wear, display %a memory %of home Subject(s): Arabs - Women EMPEROR OF CHINA, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Remember the boy who played with a rope Last Line: Wrings on the rag and wipes them again Subject(s): Arabs; Courts And Courtiers; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine ENGRAVING TWENTY-NINE, by FADHILA CHABBI Poem Source First Line: I left nothing behind me Last Line: The sea snake slithers from one culture to another Subject(s): Arabs - Women ENHEDUANNA AND GOETHE, by AMAL AL- JUBURI Poem Source First Line: We are both different: %you thought and spoke your verses Last Line: But all of that from behind a veil Subject(s): Arabs - Women EVIL HAS BEEN COMMITTED, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: We will have to fall back on Subject(s): Arabs; Evil; Fasts And Feasts; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Yom Kippur EXILE, by SANIYYAH SALEH Poem Source First Line: For grief %he wore those colorful bells Last Line: The borders of my grave Subject(s): Arabs - Women FAILURE, by LINA TIBI Poem Source First Line: I can't talk to you now Last Line: I will stretch my loneliness %a bed, %for you to sleep Subject(s): Arabs - Women FALSE...FALSE, by THURAYYA MALHAS Poem Source First Line: False...False %everything is false %under the sun %above the sun Last Line: Under the sun %above the sun %and around Subject(s): Arabs - Women FATHER PUMPKIN; OR, ALWAYS IN LUCK; AN ARABIAN TALE, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: In cairo once there dwelt a worthy man Last Line: Blessing mohammed's and fatima's name! Subject(s): Arabs FEBRUARY, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: The park hangs on to what keeps growing Last Line: To the end feel like %becoming? Subject(s): Arabs; February; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Snow; Winter FIRST LIGHT, by LISA SUHAIR MAJAJ Poem Source First Line: Between dreams and day an immense distance Last Line: Rinse the brine from my name Subject(s): Arabs - Women FIRST THING, by MOHJA KAHF Poem Source First Line: I am hajar the immigrant Last Line: Each step is blood, is risk: %is prayer Subject(s): Arabs - Women FIVE HYMNS TO PAIN, by NAZIK AL- MALAIKA Poem Source First Line: It gives our nights sorrow and pain; %it fills our eyes with sleeplessness Last Line: We have hidden you in our dreams, %in every note of our sad songs Subject(s): Arabs - Women FLASH, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: Your face is the unexplored earth... %a night's sea and parades Last Line: The wind takes over, hides it and laughs... %amid the pigeons' wings Subject(s): Arabs - Women FLOOR KEEPS TURNING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: She looks at her watch Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Time FOLLOW ME, by NADA EL- HAGE Poem Source First Line: Sir, how much do you need %of laughter and tears Last Line: Than to write you %in the size of my love! Subject(s): Arabs - Women FORGETTING LOVE, by NATHALIE HANDAL Poem Source First Line: I am not afraid of loving, I am afraid of forgetting I loved Last Line: So that they could remember for me Subject(s): Arabs - Women FORGETTING' HE SAID, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: And what we had wanted %to forget Subject(s): Arabs; Aviation And Aviators; Hotels; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Travel FORMAL POEM, by AMAL MOUSSA Poem Source First Line: In the old house %where my grandfather composed his formal poems Last Line: In the old house %love wears us like a cape %and the courtyard becomes %twice its size Subject(s): Arabs - Women FOURTEENTH ODE, by SEKEENA SHABEN Poem Source First Line: I'm not sure of my age; descending pale %robes distant fluttering Last Line: Garbage trucks roll outside my open window %it must be 4 am Subject(s): Arabs - Women FRIENDS, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: Like the water's outflow, the dream continues to bleed Last Line: And no message but pigeons' moans will come Subject(s): Arabs - Women FULL FACE, by ANDREE CHEDID Poem Source First Line: Sometimes I lie in wait %for the death I will be Last Line: Then suddenly I turn and resume %my stretch of life Subject(s): Arabs - Women GENEALOGY OF FIRE, by KHALED MATTAWA Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My sister held an old piece of bread Subject(s): Ancestors & Ancestry; Arabs; Family Life; Heritage; Heredity; Relatives GEOMETRY OF THE SOUL, by FAWZIYYA ABU-KHALID Poem Source First Line: You trick your thorny rope with little joys Last Line: As if the only thing we had in common %was the shroud Subject(s): Arabs - Women GHAFLAH-THE SIN OF FORGETFULNESS, by DIMA HILAL Poem Source First Line: Born by the mediterranean %our mothers bathe us in orange-blossom water Last Line: And tell each other %how much we miss our home Subject(s): Arabs - Women GHURBA, SELS, by RAWIA MORRA Poem Source First Line: Powerless %what we are guarding %has been violated %again and again Last Line: I have not found my home %but I have learned %to live %in my voice Subject(s): Arabs - Women GLANCE, by DHABYA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: You walk on air... %enraptured inside, %your heart flying in all directions Last Line: With the secret beauty...In the faces of other human beings Subject(s): Arabs - Women GLISTENING, by DEEMA K. SHEHABI Poem Source First Line: There are mountains on this earth %that savor the sun at the end of the day Last Line: Enemy of melancholy, ally of life, %glistening darkly %in silence Subject(s): Arabs - Women GOING FORTH, by ANDREE CHEDID Poem Source First Line: You come from the ages' origin Last Line: Death held in reserve %and song! Subject(s): Arabs - Women GORAN'S WHISPERS, by NATHALIE HANDAL Poem Source First Line: Travel through evenings without memories with memories Last Line: Afraid that they will be killed over and over again Subject(s): Arabs - Women GULF, by DHABYA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: The sea stares at my dream %(I cannot come to the sea's aid) Last Line: And of humans (ablaze with the heat %of my sun) Subject(s): Arabs - Women HANDFULS OF WIND, by LAILA HALABY Poem Source First Line: This summer I caught handfuls of wind Last Line: You gave me at birth %to ward off evil Subject(s): Arabs - Women HAUNTING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: If all she remembered at the end Last Line: At my [or, your] daughter with her eyes? Subject(s): Arabs; Children; Daughters; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine HER HEART IS A ROSE PETAL AND HER SKIN IS GRANITE, by LORENE ZAROU-ZOUZOUNIS Poem Source First Line: A woman refugee arms herself with pride and faith Last Line: Through a granite skin that stretches %but never breaks Subject(s): Arabs - Women HOME, by PAULINE KALDAS Poem Source First Line: The world map %colored yellow and green Last Line: I fly across %and land- %hands pressing into rooted earth Subject(s): Arabs - Women HUBRIS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: The loom is computerized Last Line: Where will they hide him %when the romans come? Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Sacrifices HUMBLY, HE SPEAKS TO HIS TOOLS, by VENUS KHOURY-GHATA Poem Source First Line: Bone driller of every abscess %clay in lieu of womb Last Line: No key to open these stones %and cry on his house's shoulder Subject(s): Arabs - Women I AM CONSECRATED TO THE COMING ONE, by WAFAA' LAMRANI Poem Source First Line: Dawn comes out of its vast silence %crowned by the whispers of the valley Last Line: Everything falls down %except air %...It never becomes lighter! Subject(s): Arabs - Women I CAN NO LONGER CARE FOR THE DYING, by BRENDA J. MOOSSY Poem Source First Line: My muse was imprisoned once %six months encased in stone %outside of hebron Last Line: When they know, %finally and for certain, %they are mortal, after all Subject(s): Arabs - Women I FOUND ONE WORD, by THERESE AWWAD Poem Source First Line: Secluded myself %by my own hand froze. %I hung it Last Line: Over my skin %the echoes of famine %persist Subject(s): Arabs - Women I LOVE IN WHITE INK, by SIHAM DA'OUD Poem Source First Line: I love in white ink %at evening, who knows what day or time Last Line: And I love my storm birthing %and the pomegranate bursting Subject(s): Arabs - Women I PRESENT MYSELF TO THE WORLD, by AMINA SAID Poem Source First Line: To my jumbled shadows %a cry alone can greet this earth Last Line: Two turtledoves of sand %suddenly take flight Subject(s): Arabs - Women I REMEMBER WHEN JESUS WEPT, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Fat legs %frozen %in the air Subject(s): Arabs; Christmas; Holidays; Jerusalem; Jesus Christ - Childhood And Youth; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine I UNDRESSED MYSELF, by THERESE AWWAD Poem Source First Line: Of my crust %and wore you %a nightgown of love Last Line: Split a crevice %to the light %a road into your flesh Subject(s): Arabs - Women IF ONLY, by LINA TIBI Poem Source First Line: If only god were a violet Last Line: If only god were a rose that withers every evening %so that we change it Subject(s): Arabs - Women IMMERSION, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: The sound is not human Last Line: Light from the wooden grille at the window %arranges its petals on the stone Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Drowning; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine IN SEASON, by LISA SUHAIR MAJAJ Poem Source First Line: My father knew the weight of words %in balance, stones in a weathered wall Last Line: Hang heavy as memory, %orange flash from dusty leaves, %their season still ripening Subject(s): Arabs - Women IN THE BEGINNING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: When he wakes, he turns Last Line: Who she is, or %what he lost Subject(s): Arabs; Gardens And Gardening; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Nature; Palestine; Relationships IN THE CASBAH, by SALMA KHADRA JAYYUSI Poem Source First Line: I thought that war was %here we died, mai and I, %flattened by armored wheels Last Line: When our nation became %war's killing ground? Subject(s): Arabs - Women IN THE FORESTS OF SLEEP, by HABIBA MUHAMMADI Poem Source First Line: The lion of waking roars %and takes revenge %on a part of my dreams Last Line: With tenderness %I am ravished by words Subject(s): Arabs - Women IN THE LEBANESE MOUNTAINS, by NADIA TUENI Poem Source First Line: Remember-the noise of moonlight %when the summer night collides with a peak Last Line: In those dead birds in the bottom of their cages, %in the mountains of lebanon Subject(s): Arabs - Women IN THE STEALTH OF STILLNESS, by THURAYYA AL- URAYYID Poem Source First Line: Do we see in what we see %anything but what we wish to be? %maybe Last Line: Victims, %my soul whispers %in the stealth of stillness Subject(s): Arabs - Women INTERLACED LINES FOR THE SAME MOMENT, by GHADA SHAFA'I Poem Source First Line: Has it ever happened- %you forgetting: your hands hung on smoky trees Last Line: Rolling it like a ball in the bottomless pit %of oblivion? Subject(s): Arabs - Women INTIMATIONS OF ANXIETY, by LAILA SA'IH Poem Source First Line: You do not know how hard it is, %transfiguring blood into ink Last Line: A single syllable to this existence- %this arduous impossible task Subject(s): Arabs - Women ISLANDS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: The sea is calm as a good wife Last Line: Astonished lovers whispering, %what happens next? Subject(s): Arabs; Islands; Jerusalem; Jews; Love; Marriage; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Sea IT WAS A SEASON TATTOOED ON THE FOREHEAD OF THE EARTH, by VENUS KHOURY-GHATA Poem Source First Line: The flight of migrating birds froze in full sky Last Line: Only the houses kept going Subject(s): Arabs - Women JERUSALEM SONG, by LISA SUHAIR MAJAJ Poem Source First Line: Your walls fold gently, %a wingspan %embracing the dreaming city Last Line: Jerusalem, we are fledglings %crying for a nest! Subject(s): Arabs - Women JOB'S WIFE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: She has to pity him after what happened Last Line: At the unrelenting sky Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Marriage; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine JOURNEY OF THE SHADOW, by NADA EL- HAGE Poem Source First Line: By the light of the night %in the midst of life Last Line: With them, I will cross the secret Subject(s): Arabs - Women JUMP, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Sundays. Sun-narrowed eyes. My father Last Line: What I want most is on the other Subject(s): Arabs; Boats; Fathers; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine KARSHISH, THE ARAB PHYSICIAN, by ROBERT BROWNING Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Karshish, the picker-up of learning's crumbs Last Line: The madman saith he said so: it is strange. Variant Title(s): An Epistle; Containing The Strange Medical Evidence Of Karshish ...;an Epistle Containing The Strange Medical Experiments Of Karshish ...;an Epistle Concerning The Strange Medical Experience Of Karshish ... Subject(s): Arabs; Bible; Jesus Christ - Life & Ministry; Physicians; Religion; Doctors; Theology KHOBAYZA, by ZULUYKHA ABU-RISHA Poem Source First Line: Our kisses are mountain mallow Last Line: We long for. %and our longing is Subject(s): Arabs - Women LA SOMBRA OF WHO I AM, by MICHELA RAEN Poem Source First Line: Who was my grandmother? %what died with her %and is buried in the Last Line: That once caressed her face, %now ancient, %holds mine to the stars Subject(s): Arabs - Women LADDERS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: When the angels were too old Last Line: We could count on a ram in the thicket %or stop the knife Subject(s): Angels; Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine LAND OF MIRRORS, by AMIRA EL- ZEIN Poem Source First Line: When your water reaches me, %the cup trembles Last Line: In the grave of my memory, %o land of mirrors! Subject(s): Arabs - Women LAND STRETCHING UP TO THE SKY, by NADA EL- HAGE Poem Source First Line: The time of loving and fluttering has not yet come Last Line: Drink my ethereal being %and just leave Subject(s): Arabs - Women LANDSCAPES, by PAULINE KALDAS Poem Source First Line: Caught catepillar %in spot of grass Last Line: Till we tumble into ourselves turned in Subject(s): Arabs - Women LAST BULLET, by NIDAA KHOURY Poem Source First Line: In my chest a cave %a gun and a man of storm %I am safe Last Line: If I burst and fall slain %I'll gather my body anew %I'll fire my last shot Subject(s): Arabs - Women LAST FLING OF SUNDOWN, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: It is always that simple Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Poetry And Poets LAWNS OF DELHI, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: On the lawns of the mogul gardens Last Line: As they crouched over themselves Subject(s): Arabs; Gardens And Gardening; Jerusalem; Jews; Lawns; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Women LETTER, by DHABYA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: What is it that love said when it spoke? Last Line: And it is the unadulterated secret of the universe Subject(s): Arabs - Women LETTERS FROM HOME, by ELMAZ ABINADER Poem Source First Line: Every time you weep, I feel the surface of a river Last Line: I hope I can learn the languages %you have come to know Subject(s): Arabs - Women LISTENING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: You told it softly, not looking at my face Last Line: Listen with my body to the real world %the simple hunger of the child Subject(s): Arabs; Hunger; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine LITTLE LATE MARRIAGE POEM, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: I was never young with you Last Line: At least we seem to be going %in the same direction Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Marriage; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Poetry And Poets LITTLE LOVE POEM, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Just enough to %keep going Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Love; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Poetry And Poets LITTLE TALES, by ZAKIYYA MALALLAH Poem Source First Line: Flap your wings on my bare trees, %teach me %the little tales Last Line: And she would have napped between my ribs, %like a rebellious cat, my rebellious cat Subject(s): Arabs - Women LONELINESS, by DHABYA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: The sun pours over me %inside is a pool of silver embroidered with feelings Last Line: Alone...Lonely %but not when I'm with you Subject(s): Arabs - Women LONG DISTANCE, by LAILA HALABY Poem Source First Line: I folded myself and sent me to you %in place of the usual crinkled letters Last Line: But all I see inside your eyes is sad %stories of a king without his kingdom Subject(s): Arabs - Women LOOKING BACK, by JOANNA KADI Poem Source First Line: You drifted lazily from the sky, %touched down Last Line: The heart is a lonely organ Subject(s): Arabs - Women LOVE ME, by AMAL MOUSSA Poem Source First Line: I carry me on my fingertips Last Line: The earth does not know Subject(s): Arabs - Women LOVER OF BLUE WRITING ABOVE THE SEA!, by GHADA AL- SAMMAN Poem Source First Line: It is not true that the shortest path between two points is the %straight line! Last Line: On the darkness of the abyss...And the whiteness of the page! Subject(s): Arabs - Women LOVER OF RAIN IN AN INKWELL, by GHADA AL- SAMMAN Poem Source First Line: When I die %these letters will still carry me to you Last Line: The sun will rise above my tomb in beirut! Subject(s): Arabs - Women MAD WOMAN, by SU'AS AL-MUBARAK AL- SABAR Poem Source First Line: I am quite mad and you are wholly sane Last Line: Within your breast my only native land Subject(s): Arabs - Women MALE GROWNUPS, by HODA HUSSEIN Poem Source First Line: I know %that I do not understand what %male grownups mean by Last Line: Savoring knowledge should appear delightful %in the eyes of others Subject(s): Arabs - Women MAN IS DEAD, by CLAIRE GEBEYLI Poem Source First Line: Sunburnt eyes %carved in figure Last Line: Sweet to watch %close to singing children Subject(s): Arabs - Women MANIFEST DESTINY, by SUHEIR HAMMAD Poem Source First Line: We four %sitting nursing %plates of rice and beans in a cuban diner Last Line: We were where we needed to be %we are who we have to be Subject(s): Arabs - Women MARBLE, by ZULUYKHA ABU-RISHA Poem Source First Line: Marble on the milk of this night Last Line: What buries %our aches %alive? Subject(s): Arabs - Women MEDITATION BY THE XEROX MACHINE, by DORIS SAFIE Poem Source First Line: Such a gloomy day %rain rain rain %sound of soldiers %in rain this gray Last Line: Who see, as I copy and copy and copy Subject(s): Arabs - Women MEWL, by ZULUYKHA ABU-RISHA Poem Source First Line: When we were by ourselves %harassed by capricious cats Last Line: And after it, there remained nothing Subject(s): Arabs - Women MIDDLE EAST, by NADIA HAZBOUN REIMER Poem Source First Line: No, it is not only the date clusters %in the palm trees Last Line: While the verse on their holiday letter %reads: %'peace on earth!' Subject(s): Arabs - Women MOMENT OF MOURNING, by DONIA EL-AMAL ISMAIL Poem Source First Line: Gaza, creeps %with cold hands and feet %like my life in this hot-city %of sins Last Line: While an old olive tree insists on the change %and gambles on its fact Subject(s): Arabs - Women MORNING, by PAULINE KALDAS Poem Source First Line: As if words could shed their skin Last Line: Not even a mouthful of sounds %stopping me long enough Subject(s): Arabs - Women MORNING OF EVERY SIN, by MAYSOUN SAQR AL- QASIMI Poem Source First Line: I'm not sleeping now %leave me like that Last Line: It's fair, that we feel satisfied %by kisses Subject(s): Arabs - Women MY LONELINESS, by THERESE AWWAD Poem Source First Line: I arrest it %between parentheses %bridle it %together with the tumult Last Line: I make love %to that hunger %deep within Subject(s): Arabs - Women NEW TRANSLATION OF TSVETAYEVA, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: She couldn't get in Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Tsvetayeva, Marina (1892-1941) NEW YEAR'S MORNING, by ELMAZ ABINADER Poem Source First Line: You don't have to be awake %to feel the night change Last Line: We listen while forgetting Subject(s): Arabs - Women NO RAIN YET, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Cries %countthedead %countthedead Subject(s): Arabs; Birds; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine NOTION OF GRACE, by BRENDA J. MOOSSY Poem Source First Line: A sudden blow: a great bird lifts us Last Line: Feel the embrace of air in our descent Subject(s): Arabs - Women OF WOMAN TORN, by SUHEIR HAMMAD Poem Source First Line: Did her skin smell %of zaatar her hair of %exploded almonds Last Line: I smell your ashes %of zaatar and almonds %under my skin %I carry your bones Subject(s): Arabs - Women ON CLEAR NIGHTS I WATCH, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Over the %threshold Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Night; Palestine; Prayer ON THE DEATH OF NIZAR QABBANI, by MOHJA KAHF Poem Source First Line: I will never be this beautiful again Last Line: Spring, the april sea, our language, nothing %will ever be this beautiful again Subject(s): Arabs - Women ON THE WALL NEXT TO MY WINDOW, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Who %will make art of this Subject(s): Adam And Eve; Arabs; Bible; Home; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine ONE DAY I KNOW THE PAGE, by AMINA SAID Poem Source First Line: Will cease to translate silence %into human speech Last Line: Only a shadow of flesh %can walk this earth Subject(s): Arabs - Women ONGOING, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The shape of talk would sag / but the birds be brighter than ever Last Line: Caught? Subject(s): Arabs - Women ORBITS, by 'AISHA ARNAOUT Poem Source First Line: Shapeless, the waves rise toward their elements, where the foam of Last Line: Where spaces zoom by %and time repositions itself Subject(s): Arabs - Women ORPHAN, by THURAYYA MALHAS Poem Source First Line: I am an orphan %if I walk, %I trip on stones Last Line: When will you come back to me? Subject(s): Arabs - Women OUR NEIGHBOR IN CHARGE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Rub out %with my bare feet Subject(s): Arabs; Hebrew Literature; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Neighbors; Palestine OVERFLOW, by NADA EL- HAGE Poem Source First Line: A word %a tear Last Line: And the universe was filled Subject(s): Arabs - Women PARANOIA, by SALWA AL- NEIMI Poem Source First Line: I was a ripe fig %they almost squashed me Last Line: What's the name of this city? Subject(s): Arabs - Women PATH OF AFFECTION, by LAILA ALLUSH Poem Source First Line: Along the amazing road drawn from the throat of recent dates Last Line: And it sang out, believe me, with affection Subject(s): Arabs - Women PEOPLE OF FIRE, by NIDAA KHOURY Poem Source First Line: Burn the generations. %burn the olive leaves %offer incense Last Line: Wear ash and die as embers Subject(s): Arabs - Women PEOPLE OF GRAPES, by NIDAA KHOURY Poem Source First Line: Unripe grapes %hang on the fences of morning Last Line: In its shade %and my story ends Subject(s): Arabs - Women PINES ON OUR STREET, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Split %on the fault line Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Writing And Writers PISTACHIO ICE CREAM, by ANNEMARIE JACIR Poem Source First Line: They told me the %arabs named the stars %algol, sirius, aldebaran Last Line: With the morning sun, %and only ruins remain Subject(s): Arabs - Women PLACES I'M NOT ALLOWED, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: If only %I peed like them Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; War PRAYER TO THE NEW YEAR, by FADWA TUQAN Poem Source First Line: In our hands is a fresh yearning for you Last Line: We will push our steps to a precipice %from which to reap life's victories Subject(s): Arabs - Women PROTEST, by AMAL AL- JUBURI Poem Source First Line: Why did you reproach him %and turn him away? Last Line: And you, %you are nothing but %a pair of flawed boots Subject(s): Arabs - Women PURPLE THOUGHT, by HOUDA AL- NA'MANI Poem Source First Line: It is ghosts that kill you without a drop of blood Last Line: What might perhaps impress you- %a walking mountain? Subject(s): Arabs - Women RACHEL'S CHILDREN ARE PLAYING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: And spit the shells %on the floor Subject(s): Arabs; Children; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine RAIN, by DUNYA MIKHAIL Poem Source First Line: When the rain of god falls down %please, my friend Last Line: Is it why the heart clamors for icy friends? Subject(s): Arabs - Women RED BROCADE, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The arabs used to say Subject(s): Arabs; Hospitality REFUGEE, by LAILA HALABY Poem Source First Line: The lungs of the wrinkled gray-eyed man %bellow with love Last Line: A river %to take him home Subject(s): Arabs - Women RENEGADE, by ANDREE CHEDID Poem Source First Line: I saw your gaping eyes %where sight had ended Last Line: I dug you out of your lapsed body %to plant you in the heart of mine Subject(s): Arabs - Women REST IN LOVE, SELS, by DIANA HELEN MELHEM Poem Source First Line: Say french: %who knows what lebanese is? Last Line: But the poet composed %for others Subject(s): Arabs - Women RETICENCE, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: Yesterday %when I found %the curtains of the neighbor's floor Last Line: Which belonged to a bird- %pellets which dried and melted Subject(s): Arabs - Women RIPPLE OF VOICES AROUND THE BED, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: And stares %at the doctor Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Hospitals; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Nurses; Palestine; Sickness ROC, by MOHJA KAHF Poem Source First Line: Here's my mom and dad leaving Last Line: And ages away. Spiny talon %digs into rock Subject(s): Arabs - Women ROOM OF ONE'S OWN, by HODA HUSSEIN Poem Source First Line: One day %I will have a room of my own, %fix on its walls Last Line: And remember the grief we had %when we were homeless Subject(s): Arabs - Women SAILOR, by SAFAA FATHY Poem Source First Line: Because the question was, 'where am I?' Last Line: Buffeted by the wind, %giving up diving into the deep Subject(s): Arabs - Women SALMA IN WONDERLAND, by MONA FAYAD Poem Source First Line: She eyes herself in the mirror Last Line: Where her eyes used to be Subject(s): Arabs - Women SAN DIEGO (ON A RAINY DAY), by LAMIA ABBAS AMARA Poem Source First Line: The light rain makes me long for you Last Line: Where swords are sharpened for our people? Subject(s): Arabs - Women SANCTUM, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: On top of a hill near the lebanese border Last Line: And trust it to bear our weight %a little longer Subject(s): Arabs; Cemeteries; Cities; Death; Graves; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Ruins; Sculpture And Sculptors SAND IN FLAMES, by NOUJOUM AL- GHANIM Poem Source First Line: I put my cameleer off two thousand and one times Last Line: Bodies float by...The city drowns %in blood Subject(s): Arabs - Women SCENE FOR THE MORNINGS PRECEDING THE FIRE, by GHADA SHAFA'I Poem Source First Line: A beam of light in the mouth of azure %sucks the blood of darkness Last Line: To the shoulder of the plain- %a shawl the fields wear Subject(s): Arabs - Women SEASONS, by SAFAA FATHY Poem Source First Line: There was a month I called may. When I buried it in papers, passion Last Line: And the vagrancy of lone words %on the sidewalks of meaninglessness? Subject(s): Arabs - Women SECRECY OF MIRRORS, by AL-ZAHRA AL- MANSOURI Poem Source First Line: I need huge trees to grow within me, %stars to water my calling Last Line: The sun tumbles from the angles of my body Subject(s): Arabs - Women SHEET OF FOIL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: First day of spring on the hill of anemones, masses of scarlet Last Line: Not to disturb her fingers at my back, steadying the wings Subject(s): Arabs; Childhood Memories; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine SHELL-FLOWERS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Like the turkeys you raise each year Last Line: How far it would carry you Subject(s): Arabs; Family Life; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Women SIGH, by NATHALIE HANDAL Poem Source First Line: The sea sighs, thieves fly %fleeing the suburbs of gloomy dreams %and sorrow Last Line: As it sighs and sighs in the mouth of will Subject(s): Arabs - Women SIGN ON THE NEW BRIDGE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: (one place at least) %to heal Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Ruins; Storms; Wind SMALL NOUNS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: I wish I could tell you Last Line: Whatever it %was Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Graves; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine SMALL SINS, by MARAM MASRI Poem Source First Line: Tell the wind %to calm down %for I do not like the wind Last Line: I lost my balance %but I did %not fall Subject(s): Arabs - Women SO DRUNK AM I WITH THE NIGHT, THE AIR, AND THE TREES, by MONA SAUDI Poem Source First Line: So drunk, I enfold the seas of forgetfulness Last Line: Coming in the absent present %in the present absence %in a sweeping sea of circles Subject(s): Arabs - Women SO MANY ZEROS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Too many zeros %ending with smoke Subject(s): Arabs; Holidays; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; New Year; Palestine SO WE GOT OUT OF LEBANON, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: His screech his %portentous scold %iyew iyew Subject(s): Arabs; Exiles; Jerusalem; Jews; Lebanon; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine SOLITUDE EXERCISES, by IMAN MERSAL Poem Source First Line: He sleeps in the room next to mine, a wall between us Last Line: Who never had to steal sympathy from others Subject(s): Arabs - Women SOMNAMBULIST, by ADELE NE JAME Poem Source First Line: In the pale light of the half moon, she sees him Last Line: She trembles, fearing the moment of his waking Subject(s): Arabs - Women SONG OF A THOUSAND EMPTY HANDS, by ADELE NE JAME Poem Source First Line: I will build you a house of windows to let Last Line: You have only to raise your eyes to see %my body, a tree growing skyward Subject(s): Arabs - Women SONNET: 12. THE SPEEDY FRIEND, by ROBERT SOUTHEY Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Beware a speedy friend, the arabian said Last Line: Is swept, still lingering on the boughs the last. Subject(s): Advice; Arabs; Friendship; Sonnet (as Literary Form) SONNET: TO THE BEDOUIN ARABS, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Children of shem! Firstborn of noah's race Subject(s): Bedouin Arabs SPELL OF BLAZING TREES, by SA'ADYYA MUFFARREH Poem Source First Line: His laugh: %silver %a horse neighing %a fragrance %of warm regret Last Line: Transforming into a sun %but not intending %to set %for very long Subject(s): Arabs - Women SPINAL CORD, by 'AISHA ARNAOUT Poem Source First Line: In your sight %I swallow mercury %I drink ink through my pores Last Line: The climax of death %the stuttering of birth Subject(s): Arabs - Women SPINNING, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: When from remote lands the wind rose Last Line: The stars became orbits thrusting into the night... %and night fissioned Subject(s): Arabs - Women SPRING FLOWERS OWN, SELS, by ETEL ADNAN Poem Source First Line: A butterfly came to die %between two stones Last Line: To cover the secret of %death Subject(s): Arabs - Women STANDING WORSHIP, by DHABYA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: I said bismillah in your name, singer Last Line: Innocence cries out to be saved... %innocence finds no one Subject(s): Arabs - Women STONE WILL TALK, by HOUDA AL- NA'MANI Poem Source First Line: Even in bronze curtains, I pierce the white ceiling Last Line: And the moans of the dead %will be heard Subject(s): Arabs - Women STRANGERS, by HUDA ABLAN Poem Source First Line: No one belongs to the path %except a pocket %stuffed with the leaves of night Last Line: And melts in the shudder %of an endless beckoning Subject(s): Arabs - Women SUICIDE, by LINA TIBI Poem Source First Line: The mouth that gave me your voice Last Line: The bier killing itself willingly %hungry for the sand of god Subject(s): Arabs - Women SUNKEN SHIP, by SALMA KHADRA JAYYUSI Poem Source First Line: My ship is sinking. %I don't save it. %night frost gathers snow in it Last Line: You'll see your suppressed terror...%in my heart Subject(s): Arabs - Women TABLEAU 66 FROM THE INCLINED HOUSE, by SABAH AL-KHARRAT ZWEIN Poem Source First Line: I have already lost the style and maze of language. I have already fallen Last Line: We were embracing the falsehood of space and the fragility of our hours Subject(s): Arabs - Women TEMPEST, by SEKEENA SHABEN Poem Source First Line: There is little inspiration %tonight; air cool and wet Last Line: And now this %unbearable stillness Subject(s): Arabs - Women TEMPTATION, by SALWA AL- NEIMI Poem Source First Line: Marital quarrels are not poetic Last Line: While I wash the dinner dishes Subject(s): Arabs - Women THE ARAB, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: On, on, my brown arab, away, away! Last Line: Is a bit of tobacco-pipe -- flee, child, flee! Subject(s): Arabs THE ARAB MAID, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: From the dark and sunless caverns Last Line: Love has only one. Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Arabs THE ARAB TO HIS FAVORITE STEED, by CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH SHERIDAN NORTON Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My beautiful! My beautiful! That standest meekly by Last Line: Away! Who overtakes us now shall claim thee for his pains! Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Pearce; Stirling-maxwell, Lady; Norton, The Honourable Mrs. Caroline Variant Title(s): The Arab's Farewell To His Horse;the Arab's Farewell To His Steed Subject(s): Animals; Arabs; Horses THE ARAB TO THE PALM, by BAYARD TAYLOR Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: Next to thee, o fair gazelle Last Line: But none, o palm, should equal mine! Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard Subject(s): Arabs; Palm Trees; Trees THE BEAUTIFUL BEESHAREEN BOY, by MATHILDE BLIND Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: Beautiful, black-eyed boy Last Line: Home to thy orphaned nile. Alternate Author Name(s): Lake, Claude Subject(s): Arabs; Beauty; Children; Egypt; Childhood THE BLACK STONE OF THE KA'BA, by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: Now out great father, abraham, was fain his son to see Last Line: But allah's love and tenderness beam through the blackness yet!' Alternate Author Name(s): Dean Subject(s): Abraham; Arabs; God; Story-telling THE CALIPH'S DRAUGHT, by EDWIN ARNOLD Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Upon a day in ramadan Last Line: "by god! Delicious is this draught!" Subject(s): Arabs; Drinks & Drinking; Wine THE DESERT-BORN, by THOMAS HOOD Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Twas in the wilds of lebanon, amongst its barren hills Last Line: Why any who has had like me, the night mare on his chest. Subject(s): Arabs; Deserts; Food & Eating THE GOLDEN ODES OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: ANTARA, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: How many singers before me! Are there yet songs unsung? Last Line: Slain lies for wild beasts and vultures. Ha! For the sacrifice! Subject(s): Arabia; Arabs - Women; Islam; Love; Man-woman Relationships; Sacrifices; Male-female Relations THE GOLDEN ODES OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: EL HARITH, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lightly took she her leave of me, asma-u Last Line: Stoodst the day of hayáreyn. Our proof is proven! Subject(s): Arabia; Arabs - Women; Fights; Man-woman Relationships; Soldiers; War; Male-female Relations THE GOLDEN ODES OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: LEBID, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Gone are they the lost camps, light flittings, long so Last Line: Woe be to all false friends! Woe to the envious! Subject(s): Arabia; Arabs - Women; Enemies; Fights; Friendship - False Friends; War; Fair Weather Friends THE GOLDEN ODES OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: ZOHEYR, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Woe is me for 'ommi 'aufa! Woe for the tents of her Last Line: Only the mouth that hath no silence endeth in emptiness. Subject(s): Arabia; Arabs - Women; Friendship THE IRON HORSE, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: No song is mine of arab steed Last Line: The world will pat thee on the neck. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Animals; Arabs; Horses; Railroads; Railways; Trains THE SCHOLAR OF THEBET BEN KHORAT, by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS Poem Text Poet's Biography First Line: Night in arabia. An hour ago Last Line: It burns his lips to ashes! Subject(s): Arabs; Astrology & Astrologers; Stars THE SMALL VASES FROM HEBRON, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Tip their mouths open to the sky Last Line: And the long sorrow of the color red. Subject(s): Arabs; Arabs - Women; Middle East - Conflicts; Arab-israeli Conflict THE WHOLE SELF, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When I think of the long history of the self Subject(s): Arabs - Women THERE, SELS, by ETEL ADNAN Poem Source First Line: In the green escape of my palace, over a bridge, under a Last Line: Didn't come to their aid, did we? Subject(s): Arabs - Women THEY, by VENUS KHOURY-GHATA Poem Source First Line: They bubble up to the surface of our memory Last Line: To fetch the nuts summer didn't want %shaking them like children's rattles Subject(s): Arabs - Women THEY ARE ALL WE ARE ALL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Over puget sound %as it always was Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Old Age; Palestine THEY'VE ROLLED THE PARCHMENT, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: As an old sweater %pulled over my head Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Rosh Hashanah THIRST, by THURAYYA AL- URAYYID Poem Source First Line: When your longing spans the earth %an ancient root %thirsty for a drop of water Last Line: A soul yearning for far horizons, %in the grip of shackles %transfixed Subject(s): Arabs - Women THIRTEENTH ODE, by SEKEENA SHABEN Poem Source First Line: With the window sliced open %in a circle %on the brightest part of your length Last Line: The division of your limbs %emptied a place for me Subject(s): Arabs - Women THIRTY YEARS SINCE I WANTED, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Am I looking in this tunnel %for my dreams Subject(s): Arabs; Dreams; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine THORNY GAPS SUDDENLY MOVING, by FATMA KANDIL Poem Source First Line: The keys that open doors %are the keys that close them Last Line: Every day- %until it became my home Subject(s): Arabs - Women TIME FOR DEJECTION, by HAMDA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: Forever %it dwells in the windows and doors Last Line: There is no fire in these poems %there is no warmth in this place! Subject(s): Arabs - Women TIME TO SHINE, by HAMDA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: Go away a bit my sadness %I'll open my notebooks %and draw the heart's gardens Last Line: My heart %is %armed with the morning Subject(s): Arabs - Women TO AN OLD FRIEND, by NADIA HAZBOUN REIMER Poem Source First Line: I saw you smoldering, %sipping black coffee with Last Line: And sipped rich coffee with cream- %with cubes of sugar Subject(s): Arabs - Women TO ENJOY THE HORROR, by FAWZIYYA ABU-KHALID Poem Source First Line: There was a common wall between the fence of our elementary school Last Line: To continue the game after the mid afternoon prayers %and to enjoy the horror Subject(s): Arabs - Women TRANSLATION: 1. OUTLET, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: And what is the next move Last Line: Looking for the right %word Variant Title(s): Outle Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Translating And Interpreting TRANSLATION: 2. WIND, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Like the blast %that knocked down Last Line: One lemon %almost ripe Variant Title(s): Win Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Ghosts; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Spiritual Life; Supernatural; Wind TRANSLATION: 3. FIGURE OUT, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: You have to be able to Last Line: You don't invent someone %who already is Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Translating And Interpreting; Voices TRANSLATION: 4. LIKELY, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: We never hear them Last Line: How noiseless the noise of the likely Subject(s): Arabs; Death; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Silence TRANSLATION: 5. PUT ASIDE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Bitterness %the swamp of it Last Line: Benevolent whispers %angels' wings Subject(s): Angels; Arabs; Death; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine TRANSLATION: 6. NIBBLING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: What would you do with an avocado %in your bed Last Line: Butter melting on a warm roll Subject(s): Arabs; Food And Eating; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine TRANSLATION: 7. HUMAN VESSEL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Around the cape of no-hope Last Line: Holding each other %when the wave breaks Variant Title(s): Human Vesse Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Sailors And Sailing; Sea; Togetherness TREE, by ZULUYKHA ABU-RISHA Poem Source First Line: O little brother %come let's dream together of journeying far Last Line: Alone %in the swamp Subject(s): Arabs - Women TRESPASSES, SELS, by NOUJOUM AL- GHANIM Poem Source First Line: I don't know how I lost my amulets Last Line: Like a stranger in a town unappealing to you Subject(s): Arabs - Women TRIPOLI, by NADIA TUENI Poem Source First Line: This is the city of three leaves %wide as a smile Last Line: Here time at times takes the wrong road Subject(s): Arabs - Women TROUBLE WITH ANGER, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Because I couldn't %hate %them Subject(s): Anger; Arabs; Emotions; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine TURN, by ANDREE CHEDID Poem Source First Line: Build cities %for time and time's seeds Last Line: Return to those cities %where events await you Subject(s): Arabs - Women TWO LITTLE GIRLS, by FAWZIYYA ABU-KHALID Poem Source First Line: I hang on the hem of her dress like a child hanging Last Line: Who can solve the riddle: %which is the mother, %which is the daughter? Subject(s): Arabs - Women UNFINISHED POEM, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: We live on a holy mountain Last Line: Twice a week to increase %our bone density Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Poetry And Poets UNGARETTI'S UMBRELLA, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: Claude says, 'this is Last Line: We still need a shelter %over our heads Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Ungaretti, Giuspeppe (1888-1970) UNSTOPPABLE FURY, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: And options %still %open Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Traffic UNTITLED, by MARAM MASRI Poem Source First Line: You who %often go %to disappear for long %indifferent Last Line: For I don't want to discover that you love questions %only Subject(s): Arabs - Women VEINS ALL DRIED UP, by FATMA KANDIL Poem Source First Line: Like any seagull in old tales I left...Alone...While friends clung to Last Line: Human pictures fell, and little by little the water's gaze widened %and widened Subject(s): Arabs - Women VISITING THE WEST BANK, by S. V. ATALLA Poem Source First Line: Once a year up the long road from jericho. Hot summer. Mothballs Last Line: In each suitcase a sachet of sorrow never unpacked Subject(s): Arabs - Women VOICE, by MAY MUZAFFAR Poem Source First Line: Nothing but a resonance %of your distant voice remains for me Last Line: To cross the space in the twinkling of an eye Subject(s): Arabs - Women VOICE, by LINA TIBI Poem Source First Line: Leave me to the night Last Line: Gently, bringing me closer to itself Subject(s): Arabs - Women VOICES, by SUMAIYA EL- SOUSY Poem Source First Line: One day, I decided to postpone believing the tale until the school bell rings Last Line: You, the other with no stories- %can we escape? Subject(s): Arabs - Women WAIL OF HEIGHTS, by WAFAA' LAMRANI Poem Source First Line: I ride the heathen sea to my ache crouching in the heights; some of Last Line: My face has exhausted the treachery of day Subject(s): Arabs - Women WAKING IN BED IN THE SHRILL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Before dawn now %shivering Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Sacrifices WEATHERMAN TELLS US, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: To know where %they're going Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Snow; Weather WHAT IS NOT MINE, by HAMDA KHAMEES Poem Source First Line: Whatever exists is now %is not mine Last Line: The splendor %and this universe %are mine! Subject(s): Arabs - Women WHAT THE OLD BEDOUIN TOLD ME, by JAMES LAUGHLIN Poem Source Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Once in my long ago Last Line: In my long ago I have know these abominations against nature, these deadly marvels Subject(s): Arabs; History WHAT WANTS TO CONTINUE, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Sometimes the door remains bolted Subject(s): Arabs; Grief; Jerusalem; Jews; Love; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine WHAT WAS NOT CONCEIVABLE, by FATIMA MAHMOUD Poem Source First Line: In harmony %we entered the climate of water %in harmony with the law Last Line: Blood is %our secret ink, %blood %our aged fire Subject(s): Arabs - Women WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND, by ELMAZ ABINADER Poem Source First Line: Winter pushes into my room. I waken Last Line: I leave thumbprint and palm, and the map %to my destiny in their stead Subject(s): Arabs - Women WHEN FAT WOMEN FEAR FAMINE, by BRENDA J. MOOSSY Poem Source First Line: When fat women fear famine %they arrange their canned goods Last Line: They know the pain of the gnawing heart, %the ache of the hollow bone Subject(s): Arabs - Women WHISPER, by MONA FAYAD Poem Source First Line: A whisper is a sibilant thing %sliding from the throat Last Line: Is echo's words. %this time, they are heard Subject(s): Arabs - Women WHOLE SELF, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Source Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When I think of the long history of the self Last Line: And I was there, waving, and I would be there at the other end Subject(s): Arabs - Women WOMEN, by ZAKIYYA MALALLAH Poem Source First Line: She picks me %and reconstitutes my colors Last Line: Do not give birth today; %sterility is becoming such a giant Subject(s): Arabs - Women WORKAHOLIC, by NADIA HAZBOUN REIMER Poem Source First Line: My hands are smooth, the grooves- %just wrinkles from age, thin skin veils Last Line: Some day by victims of haste, %just like I once used to be Subject(s): Arabs - Women WORLD IS A WEDDING, by ADELE NE JAME Poem Source First Line: After a supper of roasted lamb and eggplant, %fish baked with tahini and lemon Last Line: 10-foot blowups of movie stars %heroes on the marquee, the crowd passing by Subject(s): Arabs - Women YAEL, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography First Line: She must be an angel, waiting outside Last Line: She knows what she has to do Subject(s): Angels; Arabs; Death; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; War YELLOW GLOVE, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Text Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: What can a yellow glove mean in a world of motorcars and / governments? Subject(s): Arabs - Women; Authors & Authorship; Poetry & Poets YELLOW GLOVE, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Poem Source Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: What can a yellow glove mean in a world of motorcars and %governments? Last Line: Part of the difference between floating and going down Subject(s): Arabs - Women; Authors And Authorship; Poetry And Poets YOU CAN FEEL THE RISING, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: At the center of the house Subject(s): Arabs; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Thought YOU HAVE TO BEGIN, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN Poem Source Poet's Biography Last Line: Still felt or is it %(not less) %remembered Subject(s): Arabs; Brides; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine |
|