The O'ther - Poetry by Khalil Sima'an

I cannot be unborn

I will not be bottled 

I will not be rubbed 

an obedient 

enslaved genie, 

I will not be


trapped in a lamp. 

(from To the Atlantic God of Carnage)

I am a farmer, but I have no fields.
A mason, but I use no stones. I seek
the self-made pride of native artisans.

(from Self-Made Pride of Withstanding Erasure)

Here, under the siege of conscience, 

the strangled is denied resistance,


and children born with a death sentence

bury hope before they reach adolescence.

(from The Cemetry of Concience)

Writings by Khalil Sima'an - The O'ther 

The O'ther is the nomadic manifestation of an urban Palestinian living in exile in Amsterdam. His nomadic writings take their shape in English, Dutch and Arabic*. The O'ther  is the individual who belongs to a minority within every minority.

*Whilst on this website you find samples of his English and Dutch poetry, his Arabic poetry remains in the oases of his youth, refusing to adapt to the cold climate of the northern hemisphere.

Copyright If you use any material published on this website, please refer to this webpage and The O'ther (Khalil Sima'an) as author.

Email Contact:  k dot simaan at-symbol uva.nl 

This page is public since January 29th  2015.