His mother’s family
Lived in the land
For fourteen hundred years
His father’s
For over eight hundred

Celebrating life
And burying their dead

Breathing its air
Drinking its water
Swimming in its mud
Writing its history
With sweat, tears,
And blood

Planting orange groves
In its prairies
Olive orchards
Around the hills
Engraving ancient stones
In its caves
Erecting defiant castles
And building
Small mills

O’ Jaffa,
The bride of the sea
O’ Haifa
Ramle and Al-Jaleel
You’re as sacred
In our hearts
And as holy
To our souls
As Gaza, Ramallah
Bethlehem and Al-Khalil

O’ Al-Quds
The jewel of the crown
May our right hands be chopped
Before they ever
Let you drown

To celebrate peace
Is to serve justice
To heal the wound
Wipe the tear
To soothe the pain
Allay the fear
To admit and share
Because the alternative
Is a nightmare

Birds in the sky
Fish in the seas
Shepherds in the valleys
Farmers in the fields
A child playing
In the shallow stream
An old woman recalling
A happy dream
A refugee shouting
A sad scream
In unison presenting
A beautiful song
To the beautiful song
To the land of our ancestors
We belong

If they couldn’t forget
For 3,000 years
How could we
In fifty

Swearing with our
Right hands
Along with those
Who are lefty

We shall never forget you
An eternal oath
Staying for generations
Carrying the burden
Of our return
And it’s hefty