Bob Schwartz

We have on this earth what makes life worth living:
a tyrant’s fear of songs.
Mahmoud Darwish – On This Earth

Israeli minister confirms goal of large-scale expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza
Human rights groups and lawyers say ‘voluntary migration’ policy amounts to ethnic cleansing
The Guardian, May 29, 2026

The news this morning about “cleansing” Gaza brought me back to poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008), featured here a year ago.

“Mahmoud Darwish is a literary rarity: at once critically acclaimed as one of the most important poets in the Arabic language, and beloved as the voice of his people. A legend in Palestine, his lyrics are sung by fieldworkers and schoolchildren.”

From the start of this Israeli war on Gaza and its people, I have focused not just on the depraved indifference to Palestinian lives but also on the cultural decimation. Not long ago Trump threatened to end a civilization in Iran. While he hasn’t followed through yet on the threat, Israel appears to have no such compunctions in Gaza.

Mahmoud Darwish is one of the Palestinian cultural treasures. Fortunately, he is out of reach of current events. Fortunately, his poems cannot be destroyed by the most deadly weapons.

Following is just one poem. Please consider Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems or any of his poems, some of which are online.

Please also consider the vital message that “a tyrant’s fear of songs” does make life worth living.

On This Earth
By Mahmoud Darwish
Translated by Munir Akash and Carolyn Forché

We have on this earth what makes life worth living: April’s hesitation, the aroma of bread
at dawn, a woman’s point of view about men, the works of Aeschylus, the beginning
of love, grass on a stone, mothers living on a flute’s sigh and the invaders’ fear of memories.

We have on this earth what makes life worth living: the final days of September, a woman
keeping her apricots ripe after forty, the hour of sunlight in prison, a cloud reflecting a swarm
of creatures, the peoples’ applause for those who face death with a smile,
a tyrant’s fear of songs.

We have on this earth what makes life worth living: on this earth, the Lady of Earth,
mother of all beginnings and ends. She was called Palestine. Her name later became
Palestine. My Lady, because you are my Lady, I deserve life.