LULLABY TO A PALESTINIAN CHILD Don’t cry, child Your mother has only just cried herself to sleep Your father has only just taken leave of grief Don’t cry, child Your brother chasing dreams as if butterflies has wandered into a faraway land Your sister’s bridal palanquin has entered a foreign land Don’t cry child In your courtyard they have bathed the sun’s corpse they have buried the moon Don’t cry child For if you cry parents, siblings, moon and sun will make you shed more tears But if you smile, perhaps one day they’ll cast off their sorrows they’ll turn to you and play.
