Douglas Clark: A Little Poem for Mahmoud

Douglas Clark

Douglas Clark is an Anglo-Scot, born in Darlington in 1942, who has lived in Bath since 1973 with various cats. He has published 9 books and 3 pamphlets, mostly with his own Benjamin Press. He edited his poetry webzine Lynx: Poetry from Bath for 3 years from 1997 to 2000 comprising articles on poetry decorated by poems and short stories. His website www.dgdclynx.plus.com contains all the above material and much more. He wrote his first poem in 1965 but seldom writes nowadays. He is not a prose writer.

A Little Poem for Mahmoud

Mahmoud Darwish

I didn’t know your poetry
But I grieve for you,
The peasant boy who sang
Of the unattained Palestine
Which was your love.
You scattered poems
Of flowers and ancestry
Ranging from Andalus to Baghdad.
Galilee bred you.
You found words for Beirut
And the Intifada.
Your private words were of
The beauty of Nature
Which you shared with
All the Arab World.
You were my age.
To live a lifetime of torture
And never stop singing of love
Is to be a poet.
Mahmoud I salute you.