Sabha is an Old Woman

BY ABU SADEK HUSSEINI

Sabha is an old woman.
Sixty years old …
Her heart is green, green, green.
Like an old tree –
as old as the earth.

Her son…
… will soon be nine.
But he knows how to throw stones!
And he knows how to shout:
Oh, Palestine!

Her mother shouted as they knocked him down:
Leave my son alone!
Leave my son alone!
Isn’t it enough that you’ve killed his father and brother?

But the devil only smiled,
and told her:
Listen, old woman!
We’ll slaughter all who don’t obey.

But then the mother produced a knife,
and before he raised his hand
she sank it deep into his heart.
[Abu Sadek Husseini is one of the most beloved poets among exiled Palestinians, the author of the most popular fighting songs of the liberation movement.]