I Am Joseph, Your Brother by Soraya Qahwaji

After the book of Genesis and Surah Yusuf

Do not be angry with yourselves

for selling me here,

for it was to preserve life that God sent me ahead of you

said Joseph to his brothers

who did not recognize him

nor were they angry with themselves,

only hungry, and to tell the truth,

Joseph is still in the well,

dreaming of Pharaoh’s palace.

Every morning, before I open my eyes,

I imagine what I will say to my brothers

the day I will see them again.

They’re not coming back says the wolf,

guarding the well from the Midianites.

Yes they are, and I will tell them

not to be angry with themselves.

What they intended for evil,

God has turned to good,

but the wolf shakes his head

in pitiful contempt.

We never loved you, said my brothers.

We never will, not for all the riches of Egypt.

If you feed us, we will come to you like cats

but our love is not for sale.

Why don’t you love me? I asked,

but they ate their fill and left.

In the dry pit of exile,

I cower in a corner

where the stone is less cruel –

where is the angel God has promised?

Only the wolf howls at the cold.

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Soraya Qahwaji is a poet of whom nothing is known. Now let’s look at her poem.