Sketch me a Palestine
with kids chasing a ball
in a vacant lot

Sketch me a Palestine that appears like us
with completely happy shouts that rise to the sky
however by no means attain for the moon
or the celebs after they disagree with us

Sketch me a Palestine 
and a backyard filled with fidgety children

Sketch along with your thoughts and along with your fists

Sketch and do nothing else
from morning until evening

* * *

Sketch on timber
and on effervescent silence

Sketch on the underside of waves
and on the key coronary heart of stones

Sketch on the foreheads of pricey ones
whom our eyes won’t ever see once more

Sketch a Palestine that ambles by
like a tranquil crowd

* * *

Sketch women and men
intent on reinventing a carefree horizon 
on the finish of the day

Take what I don’t have
it’s all yours
and sketch a cheerful Palestine

Sketch with our goals
and our wounds

Sit down there
below a tree
and sketch

* * *

Keep in mind our mom

When there was nothing to eat
she stated
sleep my toddler

Keep in mind her face
and her eyes as inexperienced
because the clearest waters

She stated
sleep my toddler
eyes closed we crossed the sky
like a subject of wheat

* * *

Keep in mind our mom and sketch me happiness
along with your soul and along with your fists

I’m too weak to carry a pencil
and the world can’t be with out you

Have a look at these kids
with out whom the world can’t be the world

Think about them carefree
and enjoying ball like different children
in a vacant lot

* * *

Neglect what you’re seeing
and sketch along with your rage and mine

Sketch along with your fury and my nights

Sketch me a Palestine
with farmers within the fields
and other people jostling in buses
throughout rush hour

Sketch me a Palestine unafraid
at nightfall

* * *

A Palestine with its Champs-Élysées
if folks really feel like buying
and a Statue of Liberty containing multitudes
close to Ellis Island

Sketch a Palestine with grumpy previous males
and brazen kids

Sketch a Palestine with each proper to exist
for all these crammed with irrepressible élan

Each human being is the world’s need
and nobody is lower than his neighbor

* * *

All human beings deserve a horizon 
stated our mom

Keep in mind the horizon she drew in our backyard

We had neither house nor backyard
however our mom had coloured pencils
and created a horizon only for us

All human beings she stated
need to domesticate a daybreak
an evening 
a sky
to do with as they please 

* * *

Keep in mind who and what we’re
and sketch me 
a Palestine
tearless 
unscathed 

Sketch me a cheerful Palestine

Sketch me a Palestine 
free to chuckle each minute of the day

* * *

A Palestine returning house late at evening
in time to go to mattress

Sceaux, September 24, 2024

Translation from the French