World Voices Nexus: The WCCES Chronicle
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      • Article 1 by Assie-Lumumba
      • Article 2 by Enrique Aguilar
      • Article 3 by Alasfour
      • Article 4 by Choi
      • Article 5 by Coxon & McLaughlin
      • Article 6 by Navarro Leal
      • Article 7 by Sindhi
    • Vol. 2 No. 1 (Feb. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Asada
      • Article 2 by El Sayed
      • Article 3 by Hayhoe
      • Article 4 by Kayombo & Kavenuke
      • Article 5 by Mukherjee
      • Article 6 by Noorajan
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 2 No. 2 (Jun. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Alaraimi
      • Article 2 by Alegado
      • Article 3 by Eriyagama
      • Article 4 by Pan
      • Article 5 by Sriprakash & Takayama
      • Article 6 by Waghid
      • Article 7 by Walterova
    • Vol. 2 No. 3 (Oct. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Alam
      • Article 2 by Alhouti
      • Article 3 by Aung
      • Article 4 by Gakunga
      • Article 5 by Kambona & Intsiful
      • Article 6 by Sindhi
      • Article 7 by Soe
      • Tribute by Maherzi
    • Vol. 3 No. 1 (Feb. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Latt
      • Article 2 by Kambona
      • Article 3 by Maciel
      • Article 4 by Mwanza
      • Article 5 by Sultana & Haque
      • New Year 2019 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 3 No. 2 (Jun. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Batra
      • Article 2 by Fermine
      • Article 3 by Ginsburg & Batista
      • Article 4 by Klein
      • Article 5 by Thakur & Deshmukh
    • Vol. 3 No. 3 (Oct. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Inaba
      • Article 2 by Maherzi
      • Article 3 by Mwanza
      • Article 4 by Neema-Abooki & Kamanzi
      • Article 5 by Soe & Imran
    • Vol. 4 No. 1 (Feb. 2020) >
      • Article 1 by Kambona
      • Article 2 by Maherzi
      • Article 3 by Soe
      • Article 4 by Vakhovskyi
      • New Year 2020 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 4 No. 2 (Jun. 2020) >
      • Obituary by AFEC
      • Article 1 by Assié-Lumumba
      • Article 2 by Latt
      • Article 3 by Sanga & Reynolds
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 4 No. 3 (Oct. 2020) >
      • Article 1 by Antonell and Rius
      • Article 2 by Aung & Chun
      • Article 3 by Soe
      • Article 4 by Win & Aung
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 5 No. 1 (Feb. 2021) >
      • Article 1 by Batista and Ribeiro-Silva
      • Article 2 by Bedi, Deshmukh, Ekanayake and Vitharana
      • Article 3 by Enkhtur, Li and Zhang
      • Article 4 by Karunathilaka
      • Article 5 by Romao
    • Vol. 5 No. 2 (Jun. 2021) >
      • Article 1 by Coulon
      • Article 2 by Gakunga and Owuor
      • Article 3 by Guallpa and Guallpa
      • Article 4 by Hou
      • Article 5 by Kumari and Vitharana
      • Article 6 by Ribeiro-Silva and Amorim
    • Vol. 5 No. 3 (Oct. 2021) >
      • Obituary by Assie-Lumumba
      • Article 1 by Bedi
      • Article 2 by Inaba
      • Article 3 by Senevirathne & Ekanayake
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 6 No. 1 (Feb. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Apata and Paintsil
      • Article 2 by Nikita N. Deshmukh
      • Article 3 by Radhika G. Deshmukh and Narendra D. Deshmukh
      • New Year 2022 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 6 No. 2 (Jun. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Changamire and Kebede
      • Article 2 by Coulon
      • Article 3 by Geiger and Killen
      • Article 4 by Mackatiani and Likoko
      • Article 5 by Munoz
      • Article 6 by Navarro-Leal
    • Vol. 6 No. 3 (Oct. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Amarasinghe
      • Article 2 by Chamanthi
      • Article 3 by Dutta, Hardikar, et al
      • Article 4 by Karasev et al
      • Obituary by Wolhuter and Herman
    • Vol. 7 No. 1 (Feb. 2023) >
      • Article 1 by Bekele, Amollo and Lilian
      • Article 2 by Deshmukh and Kharade
      • Article 3 by Mackatiani, Likoko and Mackatiani
      • Poem 1 by Maherzi
      • Poem 2 by Maherzi
  • Events
    • CIES 2023, Feb. 14-22, Washington D.C., USA
    • ICES 4th National Conference, Tel Aviv University, Israel, 20 June 2021
    • 2022 Virtual Conference of CESHK, 18-19 March 2022
    • ISCEST Nigeria 7th Annual International Conference, 30 Nov.-3 Dec. 2020
    • 3rd WCCES Symposium (Virtually through Zoom) 25-27 Nov. 2020
    • CESA 12th Biennial Conference, Kathmandu, Nepal, 26-28 Sept. 2020
    • CESI 10th International Conference, New Delhi, India, 9-11 Dec. 2019
    • SOMEC Forum, Mexico City, 13 Nov. 2018
    • WCCES Symposium, Geneva, 14-15 Jan. 2019
    • 54th EC Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 14 Jan. 2019
    • XVII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, Cancún, Mexico, 20-24 May 2019
    • ISCEST Nigeria 5th Annual Conference, 3-6 Dec. 2018
    • CESI 9th International Conference, Vadodara, India, 14-16 Dec. 2018
    • ICES 3rd National Conference, Ben-Gurion University, Israel, 17 Jan. 2019
    • WCCES Retreat & EC Meeting, Johannesburg, 20-21 June 2018
    • WCCES Symposium, Johannesburg, 21-22 June 2018
    • 5th IOCES International Conference, 21-22 June 2018
    • International Research Symposium, Sonepat, India, 11-12 Dec. 2017
    • WCCES Info Session & Launch of Online Course on Practicing Nonviolence at CIES, 29 March 2018
    • WCCES Leadership Meeting at CIES, 28 March 2018
    • 52nd EC Meeting of WCCES, France, 10-11 Oct. 2017
    • UIA Round Table Asia Pacific, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 21-22 Sept. 2017
  • Online Courses
    • Practicing Nonviolence >
      • Module 1: Nature's Lessons
      • Module 2: Virtues of Nonviolence
      • Module 3: Fighting against Violence
      • Conclusion & the Pledge









​World Voices Nexus

The WCCES Chronicle
ISSN: 2522-7483
Vol. 2 No. 1 Feb. 2018
Poem by Maherzi

Résilience d’un palmier en exil                                    (Please see English translation below after the original poem in French)

2/6/2018

0 Comments

 
I
Je passe souvent devant un arbre
Qui s’élève au milieu d’autres arbres
Totalement différents de son espèce
Le tronc élancé et majestueux
Se balançant doucement sous les cieux
Offrant aux hauteurs un bouquet
De larges et longues palmes dorées

II
Sa présence en vérité m’étonne
Etranger au froid de ces lieux
Où souvent l’orage gronde et tonne
C’est un très beau palmier
Droit long large et gracieux
Un écrin laissant voir un rare diamant
Tutoyant le ciel et les oiseaux

III
Je lève la tête vers ses palmes
Et m’interroge sur son destin
Que fait-il dans cet endroit
Sur cette terre gorgée d’eau
Que fait ici cet arbre si fier
Dans cet environnement
Loin de ses pairs du désert

IV
Par quelle nécessité est-il venu
Dans ce lointain pays où  naissent
Les  vents violent  d’Autan
Que fait-t-il dans cet endroit
Réservé à d’autres plants
Qui ne sont point de son espèce
Qui l’ont adopté sans modération

V
Quelle main l’a-t-il amené  là
Loin de son pays et des siens
Quel destin l’a jeté dans l’exil
Qui  l’a poussé vers le départ
Sa vie a-t-elle tenu un jour à un fil
Que cache-t-il sous ses apparences
De force et de grande résistance

VI
Quelles voies minées a-t-il cheminées
Quels trésors a-t-il laissés derrière lui
Une famille des voisins et des amis
Pour quelle raison a-t-il abandonné
Son oasis verte et son sable doré
Par quel jugement a-t-il été banni
Et déchu de son beau paradis

VII
Oui pourquoi a-t-il quitté sa terre
Sa maison son père et sa mère
Quels malheurs a-t-il vécus là-bas
Quels dangers a-t-il courus et fuis
Quels secrets garde-t-il en son cœur
Mon regard s’attriste à sa vue
Sa solitude me touche à l’infini

VIII
J’ai envie de le serrer dans mes bras
De lui dire combien je comprends
Ce qu’il ne dévoile pas aux humains
J’ai envie de l’écouter longuement
Pour le soulager de son chagrin
Du poids sans doute  trop chargé
D’un passé peut-être si tourmenté

IX
J’ai envie de lui dire courage
Et tiens bon dans cet entourage
Que tu as apprivoisé et aimé
Sur ce sol béni qui te nourrit
Et que par tes palmes tu embellis
Seul tu fais face à toute gageure
Honorant tous les oiseaux migrateurs

X
La grandeur n’est pas dans l’origine
Mais dans le refus de plier l’échine
Ta valeur n’est pas là où tu es né
Elle n’est pas dans l’endroit où tu es
Elle est dans la qualité de ce que tu es
Dans l’entente avec la nature et l’humain
Dans le respect de toi-même et des gens

XI
Beau palmier résistant et sublime
Gardien de la dignité de ton temps
Tu n’es pas seul moi je te comprends
Quand j’arrive chaque fois à ta hauteur
Sur toi se pose mon regard bienveillant
Lorsque je te vois si beau et si fier
Je salue ta résilience et m’incline
 
Note : j’ai posé la question à des Anciens du quartier sur l’origine de ce solitaire et palmier d'Orient qui relève à sa façon la beauté d’un ensemble de verdure occidentale. Ils m’ont répondu que c’est l’architecte Candélis qui l’aurait lui-même planté à cet endroit où se trouvait son agence lorsqu’il construisait l’université Toulouse II appelée aujourd’hui Jean Jaurès. Cette même université avait il y a peu de temps, une architecture orientale avec des patios et des jardins intérieurs qui rappelaient étrangement ceux d’Alger « la Sublime » avec des allées internes qui séparaient le bâti et dont les toits en terrasse rappelaient étrangement celles des pays chauds. De là à planter un palmier qui rappelle ceux des oasis du Sahara lointain, il n’y avait qu’un pas. On dit même que les plans de cette institution étaient au départ destinés à la construction d’une université de la capitale de l’Algérie, appelée aussi Alger la Blanche et aussi Alger « la splendide » où pour les grosses constructions, Neimeyer a supplanté Candélis. Mais cela est une autre histoire.

Resilience of a palm tree in exile

I
I often pass by a tree
Which rises amidst other trees
Totally different from its species
The slender and majestic trunk
Gently swaying under heaven
Offering the heights a bouquet of
Wide and long golden palms

II
Its presence in truth amazes me
Stranger to the cold of these places
Where often the storm roars and thunders
It is a very beautiful palm tree
Straight long wide and graceful
A jewel revealing a rare diamond
Conversing with the sky and the birds

III
I look up to its palms
Wondering about its fate
What is it doing in this place so quiet
In this land full of water
What is such a proud tree doing here
In this environment
Far from its desert peers

IV
By what necessity did it come
In this far away country where are born
The violent winds of Autan
What is it doing in this place
Reserved for other plants
That are not of its kind
That adopted it without moderation

V
What hand brought it there
Far from its country and its kin
What fate threw it into exile
Who pushed it toward the departure
Was its life hanging by a thread one day
What is it hiding under its appearances
Of force and great resistance

VI
What mined roads did it take
What treasures did it leave behind
A family, neighbors and friends
Why did it abandon
Its green oasis and golden sands
By what judgment was it banished
And stripped of its beautiful paradise

VII
Yes why did he leave his land
Its house its father and mother
What misfortunes did it experience there
What dangers did it encounter and flee from
What secrets is it keeping in its heart
My eyes are saddened at its sight
Its loneliness touches me infinitely

VIII
I want to hold it tight in my arms
To tell it that I understand
What it is not revealing to the humans
I want to listen to it for a long time
To relieve it of its grief
Of the heavy load
Of its perhaps tormented past

IX
I want to tell it to have courage
And hang on in this environment
That you have been tamed and loved
On this blessed soil that feeds you
And that your palms embellish
Alone you face any challenge
Honoring all migratory birds

X
Greatness is not in the origin
But in refusing to bend the spine
Your value is not in the place where you were born
It is not in the place where you are
It is in the quality of what you are
In the agreement with nature and the human
Respect for yourself and others

XI
Beautiful resistant and sublime palm
Guardian of the dignity of your time
You're not alone I understand you
When I pass by close to you each time
I lay on you my benevolent eye
When I see you so beautiful and proud
I salute your resilience and bow down
 
Note: I asked the elders of the neighborhood about the origin of this solitary palm of the Orient, which in its way enhances the beauty of a set of western greenery. They replied that it was the architect Candélis who may have planted it himself at this place where his agency was when he was building Toulouse II University today called Jean Jaurès. This same university had a short time ago, an Oriental architecture with courtyards and interior gardens reminiscent of those of Algiers "the Sublime" with internal aisles that separated the building and whose roof terraces strangely remind those of hot countries. From there to planting a palm tree reminiscent of the oases of the far Sahara, there was only one step. It is even said that the plans of this institution were originally intended for the construction of a university in the capital of Algeria, also called Algiers la Blanche and also Algiers "the splendid" where for large constructions, Neimeyer supplanted Candelis . But that's another story.
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    Author

    Dr. Aïcha Maherzi
    President
    Mediterranean Society of Comparative Education
    Universite Toulouse Jean Jaures
    Toulouse, France

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    ​Maul palm tree with rainbow image attribution: By Rhett Maxwell (Maui rainbow with Palm Tree) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

    Gramophone image attribution: By Norman Bruderhofer (Collection of John Lampert-Hopkins) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Copyright © WCCES 2021
  • Home
  • About WVN
    • President's Message
    • Advisory Board
    • Editorial Team
    • Call for Submissions
    • Reviewing Guidelines
  • WVN Issues
    • Vol. 1 No. 1 (Oct. 2017) >
      • Article 1 by Assie-Lumumba
      • Article 2 by Enrique Aguilar
      • Article 3 by Alasfour
      • Article 4 by Choi
      • Article 5 by Coxon & McLaughlin
      • Article 6 by Navarro Leal
      • Article 7 by Sindhi
    • Vol. 2 No. 1 (Feb. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Asada
      • Article 2 by El Sayed
      • Article 3 by Hayhoe
      • Article 4 by Kayombo & Kavenuke
      • Article 5 by Mukherjee
      • Article 6 by Noorajan
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 2 No. 2 (Jun. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Alaraimi
      • Article 2 by Alegado
      • Article 3 by Eriyagama
      • Article 4 by Pan
      • Article 5 by Sriprakash & Takayama
      • Article 6 by Waghid
      • Article 7 by Walterova
    • Vol. 2 No. 3 (Oct. 2018) >
      • Article 1 by Alam
      • Article 2 by Alhouti
      • Article 3 by Aung
      • Article 4 by Gakunga
      • Article 5 by Kambona & Intsiful
      • Article 6 by Sindhi
      • Article 7 by Soe
      • Tribute by Maherzi
    • Vol. 3 No. 1 (Feb. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Latt
      • Article 2 by Kambona
      • Article 3 by Maciel
      • Article 4 by Mwanza
      • Article 5 by Sultana & Haque
      • New Year 2019 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 3 No. 2 (Jun. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Batra
      • Article 2 by Fermine
      • Article 3 by Ginsburg & Batista
      • Article 4 by Klein
      • Article 5 by Thakur & Deshmukh
    • Vol. 3 No. 3 (Oct. 2019) >
      • Article 1 by Inaba
      • Article 2 by Maherzi
      • Article 3 by Mwanza
      • Article 4 by Neema-Abooki & Kamanzi
      • Article 5 by Soe & Imran
    • Vol. 4 No. 1 (Feb. 2020) >
      • Article 1 by Kambona
      • Article 2 by Maherzi
      • Article 3 by Soe
      • Article 4 by Vakhovskyi
      • New Year 2020 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 4 No. 2 (Jun. 2020) >
      • Obituary by AFEC
      • Article 1 by Assié-Lumumba
      • Article 2 by Latt
      • Article 3 by Sanga & Reynolds
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 4 No. 3 (Oct. 2020) >
      • Article 1 by Antonell and Rius
      • Article 2 by Aung & Chun
      • Article 3 by Soe
      • Article 4 by Win & Aung
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 5 No. 1 (Feb. 2021) >
      • Article 1 by Batista and Ribeiro-Silva
      • Article 2 by Bedi, Deshmukh, Ekanayake and Vitharana
      • Article 3 by Enkhtur, Li and Zhang
      • Article 4 by Karunathilaka
      • Article 5 by Romao
    • Vol. 5 No. 2 (Jun. 2021) >
      • Article 1 by Coulon
      • Article 2 by Gakunga and Owuor
      • Article 3 by Guallpa and Guallpa
      • Article 4 by Hou
      • Article 5 by Kumari and Vitharana
      • Article 6 by Ribeiro-Silva and Amorim
    • Vol. 5 No. 3 (Oct. 2021) >
      • Obituary by Assie-Lumumba
      • Article 1 by Bedi
      • Article 2 by Inaba
      • Article 3 by Senevirathne & Ekanayake
      • Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 6 No. 1 (Feb. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Apata and Paintsil
      • Article 2 by Nikita N. Deshmukh
      • Article 3 by Radhika G. Deshmukh and Narendra D. Deshmukh
      • New Year 2022 Poem by Maherzi
    • Vol. 6 No. 2 (Jun. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Changamire and Kebede
      • Article 2 by Coulon
      • Article 3 by Geiger and Killen
      • Article 4 by Mackatiani and Likoko
      • Article 5 by Munoz
      • Article 6 by Navarro-Leal
    • Vol. 6 No. 3 (Oct. 2022) >
      • Article 1 by Amarasinghe
      • Article 2 by Chamanthi
      • Article 3 by Dutta, Hardikar, et al
      • Article 4 by Karasev et al
      • Obituary by Wolhuter and Herman
    • Vol. 7 No. 1 (Feb. 2023) >
      • Article 1 by Bekele, Amollo and Lilian
      • Article 2 by Deshmukh and Kharade
      • Article 3 by Mackatiani, Likoko and Mackatiani
      • Poem 1 by Maherzi
      • Poem 2 by Maherzi
  • Events
    • CIES 2023, Feb. 14-22, Washington D.C., USA
    • ICES 4th National Conference, Tel Aviv University, Israel, 20 June 2021
    • 2022 Virtual Conference of CESHK, 18-19 March 2022
    • ISCEST Nigeria 7th Annual International Conference, 30 Nov.-3 Dec. 2020
    • 3rd WCCES Symposium (Virtually through Zoom) 25-27 Nov. 2020
    • CESA 12th Biennial Conference, Kathmandu, Nepal, 26-28 Sept. 2020
    • CESI 10th International Conference, New Delhi, India, 9-11 Dec. 2019
    • SOMEC Forum, Mexico City, 13 Nov. 2018
    • WCCES Symposium, Geneva, 14-15 Jan. 2019
    • 54th EC Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 14 Jan. 2019
    • XVII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, Cancún, Mexico, 20-24 May 2019
    • ISCEST Nigeria 5th Annual Conference, 3-6 Dec. 2018
    • CESI 9th International Conference, Vadodara, India, 14-16 Dec. 2018
    • ICES 3rd National Conference, Ben-Gurion University, Israel, 17 Jan. 2019
    • WCCES Retreat & EC Meeting, Johannesburg, 20-21 June 2018
    • WCCES Symposium, Johannesburg, 21-22 June 2018
    • 5th IOCES International Conference, 21-22 June 2018
    • International Research Symposium, Sonepat, India, 11-12 Dec. 2017
    • WCCES Info Session & Launch of Online Course on Practicing Nonviolence at CIES, 29 March 2018
    • WCCES Leadership Meeting at CIES, 28 March 2018
    • 52nd EC Meeting of WCCES, France, 10-11 Oct. 2017
    • UIA Round Table Asia Pacific, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 21-22 Sept. 2017
  • Online Courses
    • Practicing Nonviolence >
      • Module 1: Nature's Lessons
      • Module 2: Virtues of Nonviolence
      • Module 3: Fighting against Violence
      • Conclusion & the Pledge