Mountain, Stone by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
Mountain, Stone
by Lena Khalaf TuffahaDo not name your daughters Shaymaa,
courage will march them
into the bullet path of dictators.Do not name them Sundus,
the garden of paradise calls out to its marigolds,
gathers its green leaves up in its embrace.Do not name your children Malak or Raneem,
angels want the companionship of others like them,
their silvery wings trailing the filth of jail cells,
the trill of their laughter a call to prayer.Do not name your sons Hamza.
Do not taunt the torturer’s whip
with promises of steadfastness.Do not name your sons
Muhammad Ahed Zakaria Ismail,
they will become seashells, disappear in the sand.Do not name your children. Let them live
nameless, seal their eyelids
and sell their voices to the nightingale.Do not name your children
and if you must
call them by what withstandsthis endless season of decay.
Name them mountains,
call them stone.
KEEP READING
SOURCE
This poem appeared in Water & Salt by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, published by Red Hen Press, 2017. Shared here with deep gratitude.
DESCRIPTION
“Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s debut, Water & Salt, sings in the voices of people ravaged by cycles of war and news coverage. These poems alternately rage, laugh, celebrate and grieve, singing in the voices of people ravaged by cycles of war and news coverage and inviting the reader to see the human lives lived beyond the headlines.”
ENDNOTES
- Read more poems by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha • Find books by this poet • Or view my library
- Explore other works in pursuit of: being named • family • war • Or browse the index
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Thank you for being here all these years—and into the future—as I hold poets to the light.
Azra
Beautiful and so heartbreaking
T.
Thank you Azra for reading, and for being here. I am grateful for these poems which feel necessary and urgent during this time.
T.