Unfortunately, It was Paradise

I really liked his poetry. I feel like Mahmoud Darwish is always looking forward in his poetry even though he is talking about oppression. I enjoyed his poetry even though it was a bit hard to understand! The two poems I chose were “On this Earth” and “Who am I Without Exile”

What Darwish explains in “On this Earth” is that he appreciates everything in life and that everything is worth living for in Palestine, including the simple things. From “the aroma of bread”, “womens opinion”, and even “grass on a stone.” I definitely agree with Darwish when he says that “we have on this earth what makes life worth living”. I thought this poem was beautiful because it really takes the time to appreciate the simple things in life that we usually take for granted and not really pay attention to.

In the second poem, “Who am I Without Exile,” Darwish explains how much he will miss his homeland. For example, he mentions “What will I do without roses from Samarkand?” I have many friends and family who had to leave their homeland and I hear them say similar things all the time like how much they will miss the fresh fruit and food. I’ve never really understood how they feel until I read this poem. It really gives me a sense of what theyre struggle is.