Thrombosis in the Veins of Petroleum
Dove in a Palestinian village in the occupied Jordan Valley. Image by Rita Mendes-Flohr.
As the melody of the soul, poetry resounds with the enduring anguish of Israelis and Palestinians ensnared in an unrelenting cycle of violence.
Amplifying the chorus is this poem, written in Arabic by Palestinian Taha Muhammad Ali, and translated into English by his frequent collaborator and friend, Jewish Israeli Peter Cole. For the translation, simply scroll down if you are on a mobile device.
By Taha Muhammad Ali
Thrombosis in the Veins of Petroleum
When I was a child
I fell into a pit
but didn't die;
I sank in a pond
when I was young,
but did not die;
and now, God help us–
one of my habits is running
into battalions of mines
along the border,
as my songs
and the days of my youth
are dispersed:
here a flower,
there a scream;
and yet,
I do not die!
֊
They butchered me
on the doorstep
like a lamb for the feast –
thrombosis
in the veins of petroleum.
In God's name
they slit my throat
from ear to ear
a thousand times,
and each time
my dripping blood would swing
back and forth
like the feet of a man
hanged from a gallows,
and come to rest,
a large, crimson mallow
blossom –
a beacon
to guide ships
and mark
the site of palaces
and embassies.
֊
And tomorrow,
God help us–
the phone won't ring
in a brothel or castle,
and not in a single Gulf emirate,
except to offer a new prescription
for my extermination.
But...
just as the mallow tells us,
and as the borders know,
I won't die! I will not die!
I'll linger on–a piece of shrapnel
the size of a penknife
lodged in the neck;
I'll remain–
a blood stain
the size of a cloud
on the shirt of this world!
23.XI.1973
The Global Lehrhaus is honored to present "Thrombosis in the Veins of Petroleum," with the generous permission of Copper Canyon Press. We sincerely appreciate their support in sharing this inspiring work with our community.
This poem is featured in So What: New & Selected Poems, 1971-2005 published by Copper Canyon Press in 2008. To explore this literary work and discover more from Copper Canyon Press, please visit their website.
Taha Muhammad Ali
A Palestinian poet and short story writer, Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011) hailed from Saffuriya, Galilee. He briefly lived in Lebanon before settling in Nazareth, Israel, where he owned and operated a souvenir shop. Self-taught and inspired by classical Arabic literature, American fiction, and English poetry, Muhammad Ali began writing poems in the 1970s.
