Jahan Ramazani has written that These dazzling lyrics and sequences create one of the most compelling portraits we have of a mind, a sensibility, a language emerging from the hybridization of cultures. "

From Heartsong:

"And I say come like a stranger, like a feather
falling on an old woman s shoulder, like a hawk
that comes to feed from her hands, come like a mystery,
like sunlight rain, a blessing, a bus falling off a bridge,
come like a deserting soldier, a murderer chased by law,
like a girl prostitute escaping her pimp, come like a lost horse,
like a dog dying of thirst, come love, come ragged and melancholy
like the last day on earth, come like a sigh from a sick man,
come like a whisper, like a bump on the road, like a flood,
a dam breaking,...

In Mahmoud Darwish: The Poet s Art and His Nation, Mattawa pays tribute
to one of the most celebrated and well-read poets of our era. With
detailed knowledge of Arabic verse and a firm grounding in Palestinian
history, Mattawa explores the ways in which Darwish s aesthetics have
played a crucial role in shaping and maintaining Palestinian identity and
culture through decades of warfare, attrition, exile, and land confiscation.
Mattawa chronicles the evolution of his poetry, from a young poet igniting
resistance in occupied land to his decades in exile where his...