Oranges From Palestine, published in 1996, is a collection of poems about the Middle East. The title poem, a piece about unrequited love written in couplets, is one of the author’s most popular poems. Other poems in this collection include Sunday Morning – Amman, Zamfir’s Flute and Dirge, a poem about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait which has been published in several anthologies..
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Oranges from Palestine by Mike Maggio On the table oranges from Palestine. Your father offers me fresh goat's milk. If he only knew. Your skin is as soft as that prim white tablecloth. On the wall, a verse from the Koran. In you breathing, secret springtime lyrics. Your mother looks kindly at this strange American man. I wonder if she knows. We cannot lie, cannot gaze here but I can still taste your warm fragrance. On the table, nestled in a brown bowl plump oranges from Palestine. Your sister smiles at me. She knows. We sit here like two blossoms on separate banks of the Jordan River. My eyes reach out for yours. Your father offers me sweet honey cake. Your brother practices English with me. I dictate a letter that only you will understand. On the TV, young men die for their country. Your lips inflate my soul with life. Your father invites me back. I return, commune with you in my dreams a thousand times. On the table, across the room the sweetest oranges my tongue has ever seen. Copyright 1996, 20023 by Mike Maggio
