It's Also Fine, a poem by Mourid Barghouti It\'s Also Fine

It’s also fine to die in our beds

on a clean pillow

and among our friends.

It’s fine to die, once,

our hands crossed on our chests,

empty and pale,

with no scratches, no chains, no banners,

and no petitions.

It’s fine to have a clean death,

with no holes in our shirts,

and no evidence in our ribs.

It’s fine to die

with a white pillow, not the pavement, under our cheek,

with our hands resting in those of our loved ones,

surrounded by desperate doctors and nurses,

with nothing left but a graceful farewell,

paying no attention to history,

leaving this world as it is,

hoping that, someday, someone else

will change it.

© Translation: 2009, Radwa Ashour

From: Midnight and Other Poems

Publisher: Arc Publications, Todmorden, Lancashire, 2009

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