{"id":949,"date":"2014-11-24T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=949"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:50:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:50:02","slug":"nov-24-think-of-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2014\/11\/24\/nov-24-think-of-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Nov 24 – “Think of Others”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday November 24 –As you conduct your wars, think of others . . .\u00a0\u00a0(do not forget those who seek peace).<\/p>\n

I encountered Mahmoud Darwish this morning as I looked for a poet new to me, and perhaps to many of you. \u00a0 I love “Think of Others.” \u00a0Darwish, a compelling Palestinian poet, died three days after surgery on August 9, 2008. \u00a0 Knowing that the surgery carried a risk of death, he chose August 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, \u00a0as a way of making his death \u00a0a poem of the Palestinian people\u00a0should he not survive the surgery. \u00a0The author of the Wikipedia article explains this way.<\/p>\n

“Mahmoud Darwish died on 9 August 2008 at the age of 67, three days after heart surgery at\u00a0Memorial Hermann Hospital<\/a> in Houston, Texas. Before surgery, Darwish had signed a document asking not to be resuscitated in the event of brain death.[54]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0According to\u00a0Ibrahim Muhawi<\/a>, the poet, though suffering from serious heart problems, did not require urgent surgery, and the day set for the operation bore a symbolic resonance. In his\u00a0Memory for Forgetfulness,\u00a0Darwish centered the narrative of\u00a0Israel’s invasion of Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a088 day siege of Beirut<\/a>\u00a0on 6 August 1982, which was the anniversary of the\u00a0bombing of Hiroshima<\/a>. A new bomb had been deployed, which could collapse and level a twelve story building by creating a vacuum. Darwish wrote: ‘On this day, on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb, they are trying out the vacuum bomb on our flesh and the experiment is successful.’ By his choice of that day for surgery, Muwahi suggests, Darwish was documenting: ‘the nothingness he saw lying ahead for the Palestinian people.'”<\/span><\/p>\n

Strong poetry, a poet friend liked to say, chooses every word carefully; the result is flint-hard and tender\u00a0language, opening the reader to grief and delight, sometimes so close together that they touch. \u00a0 Is “Think of Others” a lamentation or a caress?<\/p>\n

Best to read the poem out loud. \u00a0If you have time the video will deepen your experience.<\/p>\n

Have a blest day,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Mahmoud Darwish: “Think of Others”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Posted by Phyllis Cole-Dai on Nov 21, 2014 12:00 am<\/p>\n

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
\n(do not forget the pigeon’s food).
\nAs you conduct your wars, think of others
\n(do not forget those who seek peace).
\nAs you pay your water bill, think of others
\n(those who are nursed by clouds).
\nAs you return home, to your home, think of others
\n(do not forget the people of the camps).
\nAs you sleep and count the stars, think of others
\n(those who have nowhere to sleep).
\nAs you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
\n(those who have lost the right to speak).
\nAs you think of others far away, think of yourself
\n(say:\u00a0\u201cIf only I were a candle in the dark”).<\/p>\n

The original Arabic:<\/p>\n

\u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e<\/p>\n

\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a\u064e \u062a\u064f\u0639\u0650\u062f\u064f\u0651 \u0641\u0637\u0648\u0631\u0643\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u0644\u0627 \u062a\u064e\u0646\u0652\u0633\u064e \u0642\u0648\u062a\u064e \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0645\u0627\u0645
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a\u064e \u062a\u062e\u0648\u0636\u064f \u062d\u0631\u0648\u0628\u0643\u064e\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u0644\u0627 \u062a\u0646\u0633 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u064a\u0637\u0644\u0628\u0648\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0644\u0627\u0645
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a\u064e \u062a\u0633\u062f\u062f \u0641\u0627\u062a\u0648\u0631\u0629\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0621\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u0645\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u064a\u0631\u0636\u064e\u0639\u064f\u0648\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u063a\u0645\u0627\u0645\u064d
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a\u064e \u062a\u0639\u0648\u062f\u064f \u0625\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u062a\u060c \u0628\u064a\u062a\u0643\u064e\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u0644\u0627 \u062a\u0646\u0633 \u0634\u0639\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u062e\u064a\u0627\u0645\u0652
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a \u062a\u0646\u0627\u0645 \u0648\u062a\u064f\u062d\u0635\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0648\u0627\u0643\u0628\u064e\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u062b\u0645\u0651\u0629\u064e \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u0644\u0645 \u064a\u062c\u062f \u062d\u064a\u0651\u0632\u0627\u064b \u0644\u0644\u0645\u0646\u0627\u0645
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a \u062a\u062d\u0631\u0651\u0631 \u0646\u0641\u0633\u0643 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0633\u062a\u0639\u0627\u0631\u0627\u062a\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u063a\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064e
\n\u0645\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u0641\u0642\u062f\u0648\u0627 \u062d\u0642\u064e\u0651\u0647\u0645 \u0641\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0644\u0627\u0645
\n\u0648\u0623\u0646\u062a \u062a\u0641\u0643\u0631 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0622\u062e\u0631\u064a\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u0639\u064a\u062f\u064a\u0646\u060c \u0641\u0643\u0650\u0651\u0631 \u0628\u0646\u0641\u0633\u0643
\n\u0642\u064f\u0644\u0652: \u0644\u064a\u062a\u0646\u064a \u0634\u0645\u0639\u0629\u064f \u0641\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0638\u0644\u0627\u0645<\/p>\n