The wind blows the pollen in the night
through ruins of fields and homes.
Earth shivers with love,
with the pain of giving birth
The above quote has been taken from the poem "Labor Pains" by Fadwa Tuqan. It likens Earth to a woman, essentially delineating how the land bleeds to give birth the same way a woman does. By doing so, the poet essentially humanizes Palestine and hence makes the reader sensitive to Palestinian concerns.
Tell the usurper of our land
that childbirth is a force unknown to him
In the above quote, the poet talks about Israeli occupation without naming it by delineating the struggle of the Palestinian land and people. She essentially calls the Israeli government the "usurper" and talks about how the masculine powers of the government are not enough to conquer the feminine forces of the Palestinian land.
But Hamza-the-ordinary said:
"My sister, our land has a throbbing heart,
it doesn't cease to beat, and it endures
the unendurable. It keeps the secrets
of hills and wombs.
In the poem "Hamza," the eponymous character Hamza tells the narrator that the land has a life of its own. It has a constantly beating heart and carries the memories of the torture that is inflicted upon it. Through these lines, the poet talks about "Hamza-the-ordinary," who represents the ordinary Palestinian who is filled with love and compassion for his land.
