Those who pass between fleeting words..

Those who pass between fleeting words
Carry your names, and be gone
Steal what you want from our blue sea and the sand of memory
Take all the pictues you need , so that you understand
That which you'll never will:
How our sky is build with our stone's

O those who pass between fleeting words
From you the sword -- from us the blood
From you steel and fire -- from us our flesh
From you yet another tank -- from us stones
From you tear gas -- from us rain
So take your share of our blood -- and leave
Go to a dancing party -- and leave
As for us, we have to water the martyrs' flowers
As for us, we have to live as we will.

O those who pass between fleeting words
We are as dust we go where we wish, but
Do not pass between us like flying insects
For we have work to do in our land:
We have wheat to grow which we water with our bodies' dew
We have that which does not please you here:
Stones or partridgesSo take the past, if you wish, to the antiquities market
And return the skeleton to the hoopoe, if you wish,
On a clay platter
We have that which does not please you: we have the future
And we have things to do in our land.

O those who pass between fleeting words
Pile your illusions in a deserted pit, and leave
Return to the past to the law of the golden calf
Or to the time of the revolver's music!
For we have that which does not please you here, so leave
And we have what you lack: a bleeding homelandof a bleeding people
A homeland fit for oblivion or memory
O those who pass between fleeting words
It is time for you to be gone
Live wherever you like, but do not live among us
It is time for you leave
Die wherever you like, but do not die among us
For we have work to do in our land
We have the past here
We have the first cry of life
We own the present, the present and the future
We own this world here, and the hereafter
So leave our country
Our land, our sea
Our wheat, our salt, our wounds
Everything, and leave
The memories of memory
O those who pass between fleeting words!

Mahmoud Darwish -1988