Enemy of the sun – Samih Al-Qasim

“Enemy of the sun,” – Samih Al-Qasim “I may – if you wish – lose my livelihood I may sell my shirt and bed. I may work as a stone cutter, A street sweeper, a porter. I may clean your stores Or rummage your garbage for food. I may lie down hungry, O enemy of the sun, But I shall not compromise And to the last pulse in my veins I shall resist. You may take the last strip of my land, Feed my youth to prison cells. You may plunder my heritage. You may burn my books, my poems Or feed my flesh to the dogs. You may spread a web of terror On the roofs of my village, O enemy of the sun, But I shall not compromise And to the last pulse in my veins I shall resist. You may put out the light in my eyes. You may deprive me of my mother’s kisses. You may curse my father, my people. You may distort my history, You may deprive my children of a smile And of life’s necessities. You may fool my friends with a borrowed face. You may build walls of hatred around me. You may glue my eyes to humiliations, O enemy of the sun, But I shall not compromise And to the last pulse in my veins I shall resist. O enemy of the sun The decorations are raised at the port. The ejaculations fill the air, A glow in the hearts, And in the horizon A sail is seen Challenging the wind And the depths. It is Ulysses Returning home From the sea of loss It is the return of the sun, Of my exiled ones And for her sake, and his I swear I shall not compromise And to the last pulse in my veins I shall resist, Resist—and resist.”