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Live Encounters Gaza Poetry & Writing, January 2024
We will not die, poem by Mu’in Tawfiq Bseiso.
We will not die
We will eradicate death from our land
There… there… far away
The soldiers will carry me, my comrades
They will throw me into terrible darkness
They will throw me into the hell of restrictions
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
They searched my room, brother
They found nothing but some books
And piles of bones that are my brothers
They groan between a mother and a father
They woke them up with their kicks
They ignited anger in the eyes
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
I am now among the soldiers of tyrants
I am now being dragged into detention
My father’s face is still there
In front of me
Arming me with hope
And my mother moans
A long moan
And around her, my brothers were screaming
And around them, some of our neighbors
And each of them has a child in prison
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
But despite the brutality of the soldiers
I raised a hand weighed down by chains
And I shouted to them: I am coming back
With the army of comrades
With the army of thunder
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
There I see a worker on the road
I see the victorious leader of the revolution
He waves an iron hand at me
And another had sparks flying from it
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
I am now among hundreds of comrades
I tighten their fists with my fist
I now feel strong
And I will defeat my cell
Yes, we will not die, but…
We will uproot death from our land
Yes we will not die, yes we will live
Even if the shackle ate from our bones
And even if the whips of tyrants tear us apart
Even if they set fire to our bodies
Yes, we will not die, but we will
Eradicate death from our land.
© Mu’in Tawfiq Bseiso
Mu’in Tawfiq Bseiso (1926 – January 23, 1984)) was a Palestinian poet who lived in Egypt. He finished his primary and secondary education in Gaza in 1948. On January 27, 1952, he published his first work titled Al-Ma’raka (translated: The Battle). He published several other volumes of poetry: Palestine in the Heart, (1964), Trees Die Standing (1966). He was imprisoned in jails in Gaza twice: 1955 to 1957 and 1959 to 1963. He died due to heart failure in London in 1984. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Russian, Azeri, Uzbek, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Persian. Mu’in Bseiso was awarded the Afro-Asian Lotus Prize for Literature and was the vice Editor in Chief of the Lotus magazine issued by the Afro-Asian Writers’ Association. Additionally, he was the recipient of the Palestinian Revolution Shield.)