My Land

[lily of valley]

My land
They took me out of my land to give me life!
They nourished my body with kisses…
My heart with opium-like food…
I went blind!
Blind! Blind! Blind!

They took me out of my land to give me life!
They felt sad and said,
"How pure her sphere is!
What a saintly halo that flowers her face!"

Then they filled my mind with hallucinations.
I went mad!
Blind! Blind! Blind!
Mad! Mad! Mad!

They framed my body with their hands
A brick…
After a brick…
The edifice was complete.

They felt rejoiced.
Now, I see;
I lost my land.
I lost my edifice.

I am awake!
Awake in a fantasy world
In a world built with their very hands.

What is to be done?!
How am I to fight back?!

My land! My land!


LILY OF VALLEY,
Written on 8-31-2006.

This is the first part.

[Ahmed-Adel]

Hello great poet Lily,
I am happy to be the first to reply you. I read your poem in the morning, just after you wrote it, but couldn't reply because it is such a poem that needs concentration and "counting to ten" before replying .
Now, I will just mention the lines that I liked most, then later comes the critical interpretation .

They took me out of my land to give me life!

I went blind!
Blind! Blind! Blind!

Then they filled my mind with hallucinations.
I went mad!
Blind! Blind! Blind!
Mad! Mad! Mad!

They felt rejoiced.
Now, I see;
I lost my land.
I lost my edifice.

I am awake!
Awake in a fantasy world
In a world built with their very hands.

Actually, I want to quote it as a whole. You are an artful poet; believe me...
See you soon...
Salaam!

[lily of valley]

Hey Adel,
I was waiting your interpretation of my poem and I am still waiting……
Not any interpretation but an interpretation from a scholar of literature….
By the way, who is the guy or the photo under your name???
A lovely guy!!!!
I wrote the Arabic lines u wanted in my former thread…
There is a significant poem under the title WITHIN THE RAIN by another poet…

I am waiting …

[lily of valley]

You do not know how angry I am because of your delay!!
You are saying aslan !!
Aslan , if u were here before my eyes, I would have killed u!
Don’t u know you are my only reader!

I am waiting sth creative from you…..
Do not make me sad!!!



I don't know what to write or say,
I have lots of excuses for my delay.
Forgive me for thus being silly,
Forgive me please, poet Lily!

[Logos]

lily of valley, I think you should relax, lest people avoid your posts altogether in future

[Ahmed-Adel]

You do not know how angry I am because of your delay!!
You are saying aslan !!
Aslan , if u were here before my eyes, I would have killed u!
Don’t u know you are my only reader!

I am waiting sth creative from you…..
Do not make me sad!!!

Well,
That is nearly a reason for my delay; I don't want to write something bad or insignificant; and I hardly find time to concentrate. You know what? When I begin writing, I need total silence and peace of mind; and this I can't easily obtain because of my friends who call me a lot every now and then and ask me to go out with them and so and so ...
Thus, I beg your pardon for my delay again. I ask you now to give me another chance ... Will you? Please do...

I don't know what to write or say,
I have lots of excuses for my delay.
Forgive me for thus being silly,
Forgive me please, poet Lily!

I wish my lines of verse will soften your heart;
I wish them to change your mind's every part.
This is very bad that a poet like you,
A poet indeed, yes, that's totally true,
Has no readers; no one except me:
Your words are as great as a fruitful tree!
So be not sad and calm down please,
Let me write while my mind is at ease!

Wait for my interpretation within days InShaaAllah!

[miss tenderness]

Awesome, it slipped to my heart with its short, singing rhythm. The repletion of words gave it a very strong feeling of bitterness.

[Ahmed-Adel]

Salaamo 'Alieko Lily,
At last, here is my reply.
First, I must apologise again for replying so late. I was really busy and I hardly found time to sit and write an interpretation -- a good interpretation. I will tell you something: last Thursday, I decided to write my reply here; but I could not. I had to go out, so what did I do? I printed your poem to be able to read it and decide what to write in the car!!!
My problem is that I always want to write something good, so I do not reply immediately for the sake of thinking; and this causes troubles .
Now, I like this poem very much. It has a strong sense of lament and grief. Permit me to write the interpretation in the third person, because it gives me more space to judge, write and criticise.
Beginning with "They took me out of my land to give me life!", the poet/heroine so artfully describes her state with some invaders. They took her out of her land to give her life! This is, of course, illogical but for them; they try to convince her (and all the other natives!) that they do so for their sake and benefit. And they took her out of her land to give her life. During such allusions, one may be deceived by their claims and believe them that they are friendly -- that they want to give him/her life! The result will be, if one believes them, blindness. "I went blind! / Blind! Blind! Blind!" To succeed in their mission, the invaders filled her mind with "hallucinations". I think they must have said, "We will give you a better life. We will improve your standard of living!" Here, the heroine went "mad". "I went mad! / Blind! Blind! Blind! / Mad! Mad! Mad!"

And they took her out of her land to give her life!

They made her as they wanted her to be: "They framed my body with their hands / A brick… / After a brick…" Allah! In other words, they changed her so that she would be what they wished her to be: nothing in the world! They then rejoice to see that she is lost in all ways; she has lost her land, her identity... everything!

And they took her out of her land to give her life!

However, she is still awake. Yes, she is still awake, though she is awake in "a world built with their very hands." She then wonders what is to be done! I think she must use her mind to regain her identity. She must not forget her land, her ancestors, her history; those things cannot be erased by any invader from one's mind. They can prevent us from doing some actions; but they cannot prevent us from thinking and remembering.

And they took her out of her land to give her life!

The poem is full of irony and sarcasm. The poet says that they took her out of her land to give her life. Life outside one's land is death, not life! What life is life if my land be not there?! She also says that they "nourished" her body with kisses. How can this be done? Of course she is sarcastic.

And they took her out of her land to give her life!

The choice of some words is also significant. "Opium-like food" shows that they try to put drugs with food; they try to... to make her addicted... to give her drugs to be dizzy and easily controlled! When she says that they framed her body with their hands, she refers to her body as a small representation of her "land"; they will frame each citizen till they frame the whole land.

And they took her out of her land to give her life!

Now, I think this is enough for the moment . I will tell you who the person in my avatar is when you reply me and tell me your opinion. You know what? This delay has only one advantage: when I reply now, your topic will be on the top of the list, and more members will read it .
You didn't even say what you think of my lines of verse to "soften your heart". Didn't you like them?

I have finished, and I will wait;
I will wait for a reply that is great.
Your poem is always present in my mind,
With your refrains of "blind! blind! blind!"
So, till you reply me and write again,
Farwell now, and see you then!

[lily of valley]

Salute Adel,
I THOUGHT u gave up writing to me. I read your reply yesterday, but I was not fine so I could not answer. Today I still feel the same. Anyways, I expected this very interpretation; I like it though I was not thinking of invaders, colonization…..

If I post the second part of my poem which is not as good as the first part, u will change your interpretation- I think. I like every word u said because a good text is a text that is open to many meanings. Thank u ADEL .your interpretation is a very good one.
I thought it would be nice to give u my email ([email protected] ).
Again, who is the guy in the photo?
Later, I might write some Arabic poetry in English that deals with the meaning of my poem. But I want to see how close u might be to find the very meaning of my poem.
I love the fact that my anger inspired u to write these beautiful lines of poetry, but what really softened my heart is your interpretation.

To MISSTENDERNESS, WHAT U SAID concerning the singing rhythm of my poem is very true together with the feeling of bitterness that u mentioned.






I don't know what to write or say,
I have lots of excuses for my delay.
Forgive me for thus being silly,
Forgive me please, poet Lily!

I wish my lines of verse will soften your heart;
I wish them to change your mind's every part.
My land! My land!
AHMAD ADEL.

[lily of valley]

They took me out of my land to give me life!
Yes, they rejoiced.
I was finished.

Before the a….. , I stood
I stood and drank out of the cup…
Their juice of phantomization…
All were happy.
All.. All.. All.. turned to be a loss!

I woke up and left my bed
It was still midnight
I looked at myself
No bloody juice was on my lips.

Out of the window, I saw my land.
Far far away….
I sat in my rocking chair before the dark sky
Back-and-fro went my body
Back and fro…

How I wish to huddle my body!
How I wish to go back!
But how am I to fight back?
When am I to start?

My land! My land!

[Ahmed-Adel]

Hey,
I think I am preparing a surprise for you...
So, Ramadan Kareem for now, and see you later...
Ah, before I leave I must say something. I was sad when I read your reply (not that of the poem, but of the comment). I was sad because I replied so late so that I could write a great interpretation; however, I was mistaken in my interpretation! This gives a bad feeling (I hope you would never experience it). My sadness increased when I felt that you were not ok while writing. "I was not fine so I could not answer. Today I still feel the same," said Lily. I read sadness in every line; I read sadness in every sentence; in every word; no, in every letter! I hope you are better now...
Before I forget: the man in the photo is an actor who played the role of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice the movie (2005). I liked the movie so much; and of course I like Mr Darcy. That's why I put his photo .
All I can say for now is that it is a great poem; I hope I would be able to write a better interpretation...
Salaam...

[lily of valley]

Happy Ramadan to u too!!

Hey adel,
U come to my thread like a jay for a couple of minutes. U sing yr sweet song. Then u fly for weeks far far away in Egypt.
I am sorry for the fact that I made u feel sad with me. I was really melancholic which made me write a lot of poetry.
Do not feel sad because yr interpretation is not the thing I have in mind. Yr interpretation was very good.
What a lovely guy is this Darcy!!

U are preparing a surprise for me!!! Do u know that this will make me always online!!

Happy Ramadan!



There is another world inside me;
A world of contradictions,” said she.
……………….
All my life is a sort of confusion;
I feel I am living in an allusion.
I don’t know whom I do love;
I think I will die like a weak dove.”
……………..
She didn’t reply; my words were refused!

Adel .