I want you to be a Kaaba, for the
people of the earth.
A spacious house, without guards;
I love you… a voice from a minaret.
The sound of horns
mingled with church bells.
I love you, a jasmine in the
open air.
From "Writing the Palestinian Diaspora through Poetry," Ibtisam Abu
Duhou, SPAN, Nos. 34-35, 1993.