WAIT for ME

The poem Wait for Me by Palestinian poet Samih Al-Qasim (my translation):
"My neck is on the edge of the knife,
O, my homeland, and yet
I tell you: Wait for me!
And my hands are tied behind my back,
O, my homeland
And yet I sing
for you, o, my wound..I sing
“I have not betrayed you…
so don’t betray me
I have not sold you..so don’t sell me!”
The homeland of the miserable psalms
and the lost faces
the homeland of the vengeful roots
the homeland of the storms, thunderbolts,
and cold nights
the homeland of the stolen orchards
and the prayful palms
the homeland of the villages, ruins, blood,
and crying
Do I strengthen your resolve?
Or do you, o betrayed one, strengthen my resolve?
The homeland of the old lies, tales,
and prophets
Do I become your secret?
Or do you, o betrayed one, become my secret?
The homeland of fragmentation in exiles,
Strange airports, and ports
homeland of anger
homeland of flames
You, whose hands are kissed
through the tears of one million refugee!
Homeland of humiliation, distress, and pride
I believed in the love which gives,
and which dissolves in giving..
Thus, I say to you: Wait for me!
My neck is on the edge of the knife,
But I say to you:
Wait for me!!"