A poem written by Lebanese poet Talal Haidar, composed by Ziad Rahbani and sung by Fairuz.
Talal Haidar made a habit of having his morning and evening coffee on his balcony which overlooked a forest near the border. For a while, he noticed three young men who regularly entered the forest during the morning and left at sunset. After a while they too recognized his intrigue and began to regularly greet him with smiles as they passed by everyday, without going into further conversation.
As time went by, Haidar became more intrigued and wanted to know what these three young men were doing in the forest.
One day, after preparing his coffee, he decided to end his intrigue by finally approaching them to know the story behind their mysterious habit. He waited, but to his disappointment, they did not return that night.
Haidar remained concerned for days and did not mention this matter to anyone. One morning however, he read a report in the newspaper on three young Palestinian freedom fighters who were killed while carrying out a mission in Occupied Palestine. Their pictures were printed in the paper and he was able to recognize their faces.
He later wrote this poem and dedicated to them. Many still don’t know the story behind the lyrics.
“Alone, they remain, like the elderflower
Alone they are, collecting the leaves of time.
They lock the forest,
And like the rain, they knock on my door.
Oh time, like grass scattered over these walls.
You lit up the roses of night on my book.
The pigeon castle is fortified and high.
The pigeons left, And I remained alone, oh alone.
Oh you, waiting for the snow, don’t you want to return?
Shout for them in the rain, oh wolf, perhaps they would hear my call.
Alone, they remain like this old cloud.
Alone their faces and the darkness of the road cross the forest
and with their hands, like the rain, knock on my door.”
dededos
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
annaxmalina
theartofmadeline
tangentwithtanner
ellievsbear
