I call your name,
O God’s Gift,
For thee, this is penned.
With indelible ink, on a papyrus paper,
I start these lines.
-Floods of emotions are rocking my heart-
With whys and question marks, I end these lines!
 
Mohammed Arafat
23-07-2020

Oh Palestine,
I look at your spacious skies
above the blue waves of the sea
that I see with my wide-open eyes.
How God shed his love on thee.

Mohammed S Arafat
09-15-2020

I open the window at midnight,
and stand by it,
to beautify my eyes,
looking at Gaza city.

The sky is clear.
The moon is crescent.
It’s breezing from the sea.
The tops of the palm trees dancing,
under the lights of the flying stars,
and the falling meteors and comets.
I can smell the oil of the olive trees in the East.
I can taste the citrus fruits of the West while far.
It seems this city won the satisfaction of God.

I am watching the light go on and off,
in the small buildings,
across the street.
Some families get lights.
Others get darkness while there is light.

I try to look through the windows,
but it’s not easy.
Some of them are opaque though.

In one of the buildings lives a big family,
spending the night waiting for the morning,
and its unexpected surprises.
In another building lives a young man,
chatting with his fiancée,
about their wedding delayed for five years.

Three orphans live in a makeshift home, made of tin plates.
Weeping, they can’t believe they lost their parents just recently.
Beside their home, widowed woman resides.
She thinks she could bring her husband back.

On the second floor, there is a girl,
waiting for her lover to come.
He promised to marry her years ago,
but he turned up missing while trying to migrate.
Her mother awaits her son,
to come back from the café,
where he hookahs and smokes for hours.

In another building stays four graduates,
sitting in front of big screens,
applying for jobs,
Knowing they won’t get any.

On top of them, lives an artist,
criticizing his careless government,
and cursing the occupation on social media,
waiting to be arrested and humiliated soon.
In Gaza, live humans.

Mohammed S Arafat
December 2nd, 2019

I look around me
and this is what I see:
Relentless battles
Fighters not knowing why they are asked to fight
and their leaders engage with no purpose
Borders separating people’s lands
and checkpoints confiscating their freedom

I look around me
and this is what I see:
Racists and hate
for colour, religion and race
Why don’t they embrace?

I look around me
and I hear a victim talking:
You whom cannot hear me.
I have been talking
for lunar and solar years
My voice is hoarse
No response is offered
I am no different
and I don’t want to be.
Will you hear me?

I look at my Palestinian self,
and I feel it all!

Mohammed Arafat
09-06-2020

It’s 4 am
No sun yet
He doesn’t want to wake up
Now sing the birds
They flap outside
chasing one another
trying to wake him up
But nobody cares
Now street trees murmur
and wind blows
into them
shaking their thick stems and wither leaves
trying not to distress his sleep
Breeze comes in from the cracked window.
above his head
He wants to wake up
to see the birds
to listen to the rustling of leaves
to feel the wind
but he can’t anyway
Breeze talks to him
gently talks to him
and it takes him away
“God bless your soul, Grandfather.” I pray, shedding tears.

Mohammed Arafat
January 26th, 2020

O humans,
I would have loved to
tell you about this pain,

I would have loved to
tell you about it
and talk it out,
had I known talking would help.

I am wrapping myself up in this flag, though.
I am wrapping myself up in this flag!

22-07-2020

Mohammed Arafat

Green leaves wilt,
and turn yellow and orange,
filling the ground of my parents’ backyard,
with brown color.
No swinging, no tree climbings, no frolicking,
but warmth in sobs with my family.
We bring up our old memories,
the sweet and the bitter,
the memories of every autumn,
I lived in my old town in Gaza.

With love, we flip them like reading a dusty book,
in front of the campfire.
while yellow and orange leaves still fall outside,
filling the ground with brown color.

It’s windy outside and cold.
Reptiles get into their burrows.
Birds, in a hurry, fly to their nests,
full of either babies or eggs about to hatch,
and we are still remembering our old memories.
We fall asleep in front of fire in autumn,
dreaming...

Mohammed S Arafat
October 30th, 2019

--I am Let Go--




“Goodbye, my mom…”
I kiss her hands and leave,
the house of my parents,
in my village, chained…
chained with high walls,
electric siege,
armed soldiers,
and hate.

While walking, with a bag full of food in my right hand,
and my green Palestinian ID in my left,
I am remembering my goodbye to my mom.
I didn’t say, “See you soon, mom!”
but goodbye.
I don’t know why!

The street is dark,
with the moon lurking behind the clouds.
It’s cold in November.
My cold hands shaking.
Neither the bag nor the ID helps warming them up.

I approach the high wall and the border we always talk about,
in our winter meetings around campfires.
It’s full of military watchtowers,
with welded wire fence,
and snipers pointing their guns at me.

My ID is ready in my hand to show,
and my bag is open for them to be searched.
The inspection is over, and I am let go.
They laugh at me while I walk.

No safety yet.
About to cross the border,
I again remember my goodbye to my mom.

Remembering stops.
My back feels cold.
It’s frozen.
It’s warm.
It hurts.
I am screaming.
I am shot by the soldiers checked my bag and my ID,
by the soldiers who let me go.

Mohammed Arafat
November 2nd, 2019

I look here, I look there

trying to compare

between two places

One once was a home

and the other refuses to be one.

One is surrounded by visible and invisible high walls

and many brutalities.

The other isolates me with strict laws and policies.

Every night, I sleep hoping for a morning with a refuge.

During my sleep, sweet dreams cross my mind,

but they are faced with ugly nightmares.  

It’s complex.

I wake up from my nightmares,

and the two places are the same.

One is isolated,

and the other isolates me,

I try to find my refuge though.



Mohammed Arafat

14-04-2020

(A poem dedicated to my mother)

It was weirdly warm

the night I was born

Was it the shriek of my mother?

or it was the hot weather?


She was as young as I am now

talking to me despite the thou-

sands of moments of her pain

she couldn’t easily contain


The only little thing I did,

was babbling while in bed

She understood me though

but I will never know

the agony she went through

to make me the way I grew


You cared for me every single day

and for you, I will always pray

My own mother, I left you not so early,

You are the one I love so dearly.

Mohammed S Arafat

05-01-2020

I am awake
It was a long deep sleep
I try to open my eyes to see the world
Hopefully a change.
Curtains up
Window closed
(Inhaling)
(Exhaling)
I barely can breathe
My chest is tight
Heaviness?
Anxiety?
I don’t know!

Through the window
the sky is glorious and cerulean
The sun looks at me beside the rainbow
But it does not smile like before!
Wondering why.
Where are the birds?
Where is their early-morning songs?
They used to fight over partners on that high tree.
They no longer fall in love?
They used to travel deep into that forest to feed their kids.
They no longer make love?

Our crowded street is empty
No stray dogs barking and chasing cats
No cats hunting mice
No mice climbing in trash
No trash in front of houses at most

A ghost town?
A haunted neighbourhood?
What is the matter?

I am shackled in here
In silence
In quietness
No noises like before
but the sound of silence
No little fights between siblings
No calls from my mother for breakfast

No.. no.. no..

I wake up from my sleep!
It was just a nightmare
Fortunately, I am alive with no Corona
The house is not silent
The neighbourhood is not haunted
Nothing is the matter

Mohammed Arafat
07-03-2020

I am going out to pay my dreams a visit
It will be short, upping my thumb
They tell me words and I tell them some
I shan’t be late, you too come?

Arguments will happen and begin
They or I might sulk
At the end of today
I want them to win
not over me, but over their fellows.

Mohammed S Arafat
28-03-2020

I walk for miles to reach the pink trees 
In a hurry, I rush, hurt my knees 
Under the strong sun, the cloudless sky 
I try to find place of shade and breeze 
 
In the place I woo, no wind. It is dry 
The sun still strong, it is warm and high 
I see no people but some buds of cherry 
It was never like this. It is a lie 
 
I am under the cherry, it is not ordinary 
Beautiful, stunning, pretty and extraordinary 
I stare out at the new colorful blossoms 
Praying for the return of the real imaginary

Mohammed Arafat
23-03-2020

It’s dimmed outside.
Sun is leaving us for so long.
Heavy Clouds approach.
Skies cry dew at the dawn.
and rain at the twilight.

Trees lose their green leaves day after day,
just like a child losing thier family.
No more green or yellow leaves on trees.
Birds halt building nests,
as they travel with the sun,
taking their chicks with them,
to look for new home, new food.

Lovers see each other not much,
as parks closed and roses wilt.
Harbors blocked and waves get high.
Golden shores wetted, green hills yellowed.
No places for love.
They decide to travel with the sun.
Everything beautiful travels with the sun.
Everything beautiful travels with the sun.



Mohammed Arafat

05-12-2019

Besieged Twice
Curfew
from eight to six
Crowds avoided
Gatherings faded
Restaurants closed
Hookah bars emptied
No meeting with my friends
No dating my crush
I am losing them
It’s unusual
I look at the sky
It’s blue and shiny
I don’t see warplanes
I see no tanks, no bulldozers on the borders
No soldiers with army uniforms.
What’s going on, then?
Once again, I realize I am besieged
By no humans
By no soldiers
But by a pandemic
that picks preys
and steals their lives!

Mohammed Arafat

When it gets impossible and hard
when it becomes out of the way
and unlikely to happen
tell me you are by me

When I try hard and try
but I fail with no passion
and my hopes, like me, die
tell me you are by me

When I have none but you
your love, miracles, calmness
when I believe all you say is true
tell me you are by me

When I look at the skies
they are dimmed and grey
when I see nothing but lies
tell me you are by me

When I watch the high trees
in the deep woods
finding no green, no breeze
tell me you are by me

When I try to listen to birds
but no birds to sing
but owls to grieve with no words
tell me you are by me.

When I feel depressed and alone
with a fluttering heart
when I moan and groan
tell me you are by me

When my eyes filled with tears
and they drop on my cheeks
when my heart filled with fears
tell me you are by me.

When I kneel at your door
After your heaven and throne
with tears on the floor
tell me you are by me.
God, tell me you are by me.

Mohammed Arafat
29-12-2019

I am walking under the crescent,
thinking about the past and the present.
My hands in my pockets,
of my winter coat.
It’s cold,
so am I,
inside the warm coat.
Different shadows appear and fade,
all around me.
in my right,
in my left,
in front of me,
and behind me.
They come and go.
I think someone is trailing me,
from behind,
Or even above.
No one is around, I look.
It’s just my shadow.
I realize everyone leaves but not the shadows.

Mohammed Arafat
22-02-2020