{"id":11951,"date":"2017-12-01T13:59:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T13:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/?post_type=update&#038;p=11951"},"modified":"2020-05-29T15:20:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:20:14","slug":"poems-from-guantanamo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/12\/01\/poems-from-guantanamo\/","title":{"rendered":"Poems from Guant\u00e1namo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/case-study\/towfiq-bihani\/\">Towfiq Bihani<\/a> has been held at Guant\u00e1namo Bay since early 2003. He has never been charged with a crime. Towfiq has been \u2018prepared for release\u2019 twice \u2013 coming agonizingly close to leaving the prison, and seeing his beloved family again.<\/p>\n<p>Towfiq is a keen poet, and has poetry in English and Arabic during his time in Guantanamo. Below are some of Towfiq&#8217;s poems, which he has shared with Reprieve.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>My Darling<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Go everywhere you would like my darling.<br \/>\nDon\u2019t look behind.<br \/>\nDon\u2019t fear the sight.<br \/>\nLive in happiness.<br \/>\nIn gladness.<br \/>\nSing as loud as you can,<br \/>\nDance as much as you would like.<br \/>\nEnjoy all the fun you can.<br \/>\nMy darling, forget your past.<br \/>\nAnd go ahead to start,<br \/>\nA new way, another way<br \/>\nDon\u2019t look back on yesterday<br \/>\nDon\u2019t feel sorry about me,<br \/>\nOr even worry about me<br \/>\nDon\u2019t think who you left behind<br \/>\nGo everywhere you would like<br \/>\nDon\u2019t look behind<\/p>\n<h2>Remember<strong>\u00a0me this way<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The morning\u2019s sun has risen. And I saw all the drops of dew on the leaves of the trees.<br \/>\nWhen I looked at the rays of the golden sun, it reminded me your yellow hair.<br \/>\nWhen I watched the beauty of the pure blue sky, I remembered your blue eyes.<br \/>\nWhen I gazed at the dew on the leaves, I remembered your tears that were running down your smooth face<br \/>\nWhen I heard the chirping of birds, I remembered your sweet voice, when you sang the song \u201cremember me this way\u201d<br \/>\nMy darling, please don\u2019t forget the promise that you made, you have nothing to worry about, we will be together again.<br \/>\nMy darling, when will you return to me?<br \/>\nI want you to take me in your arms.<br \/>\nI want you to know that there is nothing left of me except the pain in my heart.<br \/>\nMy darling, I am begging you to come to be before the hands of death abduct me.<br \/>\nI hope that I can see you one last time in my life, then I will say to death, I am ready to sleep in your lap forever.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Poem 3:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t understand or even know, are you born from beauty, do you take light from the moon, or does the moon take it from your face, are you painting your cheeks from your face, or are they painting themselves from your cheeks, is your scent coming from your perfume, or the perfume comes from your breath, God created you, in a more beautiful picture therefore I don\u2019t need a deep adventure, God completed you with a kind heart, which has more compassion that never end, ask anybody who knows her, she always offers us help.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Poem 4:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWhat is wrong, what is going on, why are the beams of the sun dancing? Why are the flowers and roses wearing perfume? Why do all the jasmines coming to bloom, the butterflies come out as a fleet fluttering their wings as they compete, flocks from birds higher they are flying, happy birthday they are singing, what is the date today. Today is her day. Yes, my friend\u2019s birthday now I just remember today is the first of December, then to her I say, happy birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Poem 5:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cAn amputated hand never needs a glove; a broken heart never needs a new love.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Poem 6:<\/h2>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know how can I prove<br \/>\nThat how I am falling in your love<br \/>\nYou became in my sky lightning flash<br \/>\nI made you on my eye its lash<br \/>\nYour love in every parts in me grown<br \/>\nYou are a queen, my heart is your throne<br \/>\nLet me sailing in your heart wondering<br \/>\nHow I came in your eyes wandering<\/p>\n<h2>Poem 7:<\/h2>\n<p>By your morals I become your captive<br \/>\nYour compassion and affection most active<br \/>\nYou drew my hope in a beautiful picture<br \/>\nAll good things for me you capture<br \/>\nYou recreate my smile from its grave<br \/>\nAll meaning of happiness for me wave<br \/>\nIn a short time you become my owner<br \/>\nCompletely you owned me, and give me my honor<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/case-study\/towfiq-bihani\/\">You can read more about Towfiq here\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Towfiq Bihani has been held at Guant\u00e1namo Bay since early 2003. He is a keen poet, and has poetry in English and Arabic during his time in Guantanamo. Here you can read two of Tawfiq&#8217;s poems, which he has shared with his Reprieve lawyer Shelby Sullivan-Bennis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Poems from Guant\u00e1namo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/12\/01\/poems-from-guantanamo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poems from Guant\u00e1namo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Towfiq Bihani has been held at Guant\u00e1namo Bay since early 2003. 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