The Butterfly's Burden

<p>“Mahmoud Darwish is the Essential Breath of the Palestinian people the eloquent witness of exile and belonging exquisitely tuned singer of images that invoke link and shine a brilliant light into the world's whole heart. What he speaks has been embraced by readers around the world—his in an utterly necessary voice unforgettable once discovered.—Naomi Shihab Nye</p><p>Mahmoud Darwish is the leading poet in the Arab world an artist and activist who attracts thousands to his public readings.</p><p><I>The Butterfly's Burden</I> combines the complete text of Darwish's two most recent full-length volumes linked by the stunning memoir-witness poem “A State of Siege. Love poems sonnets journal-like distillations and interlaced lyrics balance old literary traditions with new forms highlighting loving reflections alongside bitter longing.</p><p><B>From Sonnet [V]</B></p><p><I>I touch you as a lonely violin touches the suburbs of the faraway place.<BR> Patiently the river asks for its share of the drizzle.<BR> And bit by bit a tomorrow passing in poems approaches<BR> so I carry faraway's land and it carries me on the road.</I></p><p><B>Mahmoud Darwish</B> is the author of 30 books of poetry and prose as well as the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. He has worked as a journalist was director of the Palestinian Research Center and lived in exile until his return to Palestine in 1996. He has received many international awards for his poetry.</p><p>Translator <B>Fady Joudah</B> is a physician based in Houston Texas. His first book of poems received the Yale Younger Poets prize.</p><BR>