The Return
The Return
When the spring returns every year
When the spring returns every year,
The swallow returns to the sky to tell the news,
The bees return to sip
The morning coffee with the flowers,
The butterflies return to share
The breakfast with the roses,
The snow returns to run
To the rivers with the creeks;
And when the stems return to announce
That the fruit is arriving soon
And the poppy returns to announce
The return of spring every March;
Then, the people of Palestine return to remember
Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Al-Aghwar
***
Every time a spring party begins
Love returns to play with secrets,
So the lovers’ fingers interlock
In the ways of rendezvous
And the hearts return
To dance on the strings,
And so the music is born
From the pulse of thoughts
And the songs are tuned
With the rhymes of poetry,
Then the people of Palestine return
To sing the song of the free
***
Every time the lemon showers
With the rain,
The olive is crowned
Master of all other trees,
The spikes of wheat wave (farewell)
To the caravans of the martyrs,
The palm says ‘I don’t bend down
But to the one God;
Then, the people of Palestine will say
‘We will return to make our destiny’
***
No matter how long they hide the moon’s light,
Or prevent the return of the sun to the daylight,
Or cut the seagull’s wings,
Or prevent the arrival of the boat and the sailor,
Or fill the jails,
And prevent news and visitors;
The voice of freedom will return
From behind the barriers
And the people of Palestine will be
More and more insistent to return
***
By: Tarif Youssef-Agha
Houston, Texas
May 2011