I could have not been who I am I could have not been here The plane could have crashed with me on board that morning but it’s my good fortune that I sleep in I could have not seen Damascus or Cairo the Louvre or the magical towns And had I been a slow walker a rifle might have severed my shadow from the sleepless cedar And had I been a fast walker I might have become shrapnel and a passing whim And had I been an excessive dreamer I could have lost my memory It’s my good fortune that I sleep alone and that I listen to my body and believe my talent in discovering pain in time to call the doctor ten minutes before dying… ten minutes, enough for me to live by chance and disappoint the void Who am I to disappoint the void who am I, who am I?

— Mahmoud Darwish, from “The Dice Player" (trans. Fady Joudah)