this unfamiliar tree bearing fruit over here
it's my mother
mango and rose-apple, pomegranate, pear
or maybe star-apple, hogplum too
guava, pomelo, kamranga
so much pain and love, sacrifice and patience
as if all the pronouns of the world
the adjectives, nouns, and prepositions
of a village too, a field, a map with no form
are my mother's other names
expelled from heaven
crossing timidly over to the underworld
—translated by Carolyn B. Brown
Chris Keulemans, "Imagination Behind the Wall: Cultural Life in Ramallah"
Harish Trivedi, "Translating Culture vs. Cultural Translation"
Mohammad Rafiq & Carolyn B. Brown, "Open Poem" & Selections from Bishkale Sandya
Selections from Bishkale Sandya
T. Alias Taib: In Memoriam
Three Poems by T. Alias Taib