A Violet Darkness

By Najwan Darwish

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid

Najwan Darwish, Palestine’s most celebrated contemporary poet, cuts across history and time in this third selection in the 2024 Words Without Borders—Academy of American Poets National Translation Month series.

September 19, 2024

Published in 2024 Words Without Borders–Academy of American Poets National Translation Month Series

Palestine

An oval shard of pottery with a wide band of deep purple through the middle and sky blue at both...

Circular shard, China, 960 CE–1279, stoneware with light blue and purple glaze. Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection, Art Institute of Chicago. Public domain.

Listen to Kareem James Abu-Zeid read his translation of "A Violet Darkness"

Original Language

And all that remains for me is to follow a violet darkness
on soil where myths splinter and crack.
Yes, love was time, and it too
splintered and cracked
like the face of our country.

My share of the people
is the transit of their ghosts.

And all that remains for me is to follow a violet darkness
on soil where myths splinter and crack.
Yes, love was time, and it too
splintered and cracked
like the face of our country.

My share of the people
is the transit of their ghosts.