David Lan Pham


A HOMELAND FOR THE WANDERING PEOPLE

To Honorable Theodor Herzl (1860 - 1904) with respect and admiration.



I saw you on the bank of the Danube.
You looked very old in your thirties.
You were immensely sad when thinking of Mount Zion,
The wandering people’s ancestral land.

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Through many centuries
The descendants of Israel 
Lived their wandering life
Everywhere on Earth.
They were stateless.
No difference between a stateless and a homeless. 

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Homeless people succumb to the frosty winter
Stateless people suffer physically and morally.
I know you got sad after the Dreyfus’ affair.
You nurtured a dream in your mind:
A Homeland for the wandering people.

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You passed away at the age of 44.
44 years later, what you dreamed of 
Turned into a Fairy’s dream.

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A Homeland for the wandering people
Was born in the resounding blast of bombs and cannons.
The flag of David was hoisted
In the blast of the national anthem, the Hatikvah. (1)
The two thousand years’ hope came true.
A Homeland was born
On the old land of Zion and ancient Jerusalem.

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Honorable Theodor Herzl,
You died in Vienna.
Your soul is on Mount Zion.
Your people never forget you,
The patriarch showing them the journey to the glorious Promised Land,
The ancestral land has been built with blood,
Tears, sweat, perseverance and bravery.
The Homeland survives in exchange of blood and bones.
Tones of sweat embellish it for ever.
Hatikva! Hatikva!

****

Rest in peace, Honorable Theodor Herzl,
In your eternal sleep
On the quiet Mount Zion.
A great man, you died. 
But your SACRED HOPE survives for ever.
 

David Lan Pham, F.A.B.I

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(1) Hatikvah: Hope.


Cái Đình - 2017