And the curtain falls

And the curtain falls

Mahmoud Darwish Translated by: Denys Johnson-Davies/The Music of Human Flesh. When the applause dies down in the hall And the shadow slants Towards my breast The make-up falls from the face of Galilee And thus – I resign! Tonight I find my self Naked As a massacre. My acting was far from my father's mawwals. My acting was strange to the birds of Galilee And my arm was a fan And thus – I resign. They coached me in everything the director asked In the way of dancing to the rhythm of his lie, And now I am weary. I have hung my legends on a washing-line And thus – I resign. In your name I now confess that the play Was written for entertainment. The critics were satisfied, but the eyes of Mary Magdalene Carved into my body The shape of Galilee And thus – I resign. O my blood, Their brush makes paintings of Lydda, And you are the ink. Jaffa is but the skin on drums And my bones are like the baton in the director's grasp, Yet I say: I shall perfect the role tomorrow, sir, And thus – I resign. Ladies And gentlemen! I have entertained you for twenty years. Today the time has come for me to leave, To escape from this crowd And to sign in Galilee To the birds that live in the nest of the impossible, And thus – I resign I resign I resign . . .