A Palestinian woman near the Israeli fence in Mas’Ha.
By Cathal Ó Searcaigh
After Tawfiq Zayyad
Here in Gaza, in Ramallah, in Galilee,
we will perpetuate our kind, preserve our ways,
keep alive the memory of what we have lost.
With the evil eye we will confound you,
with vengeful charms, we’ll overcome you,
with sandstorms we’ll drive you astray.
Like cactus thorns, we will prick your conscience,
the spine of your authority, singing our songs
of mourning, filling the prisons, taking to the streets.
We will defend the fig trees and the olive trees,
ferment revolution in the hearts of our young
like the yeast rising in this taboun bread.
Here in Gaza, in Ramallah, in Galilee,
we will have offspring, we will perpetuate our ways
as firm as the olve tree, as resilient as the cactus.
