FATHER

daddy
are you off to the office again

please
bring the office
home with you
one day

I wonder
which one of us is
nicer: the office or me?

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DAUGHTER AND FATHER

daddy
get me another balloon
the other one is burst

daddy
get me another balloon I said
the other one is burst

just be quiet will you
here is
another balloon
don't burst it
OK?

daddy
don't tell me that
tell it to the balloon
just say
don't burst
OK?

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LONGING

I can only
cuddle my daddy
in the evenings

daddy
why can't you
be at home
during the day time?
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GROWING UP

the grass gets
soaking wet
when I cry

a sparrow
alights on my window
when I smile

the sky turned quite blue
one day
when I was looking up

the neighbours' children
will knock at the door
when I walk

little by little
I grow up
as the days
follow the nights

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THE FATHER AND TOYS

I asked my father
didn't you see any toys
when you were a child?

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WORKING MOTHER

a terrible
storm breaks out
when my mother goes out

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QUESTION

we are four
sisters and brothers

I have two elder sisters
and one brother

tell me children
what number
am I ?

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WITHOUT US
one morning
we woke up and found

snow everywhere
we were all asleep

oh!
how can it snow
without any of us

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FATHER

you were the one who recited
the call to prayer into my ears
the day I was born

you are tall
your arms are strong
you can lift three of us
at once

every morning you go
to look for our livelihood
every evening you come home tired
but your face is smiling
your return is like a festival

let me grow up a little more
and I shall say
no, father
this morning it is my turn
you sit at home
with my mother
and rest

I will run the streets
looking for our livelihood

in the evening
in my hand a big loaf
who knows
how much you'll be pleased

no no
don't thank me
as I said
it's my turn

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MY HANDS ARE NAUGHTY

my mother's eyes warm
and full of love
because she looks at me

the colour I like most
is brown
because
it is the colour of my mother's eyes

my sister's hair is bright
because her hair is sunny

my father's face has lines
when he gets angry
my brother's face grows sour
when he cries

my hands are naughty
when I suddenly
spill the soup

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THE ROSE OF THE WORLD

a shepherd plays his pipe
to call me

a soldier sings a song
to hail me

my mother sings me a lullaby
to send me to sleep

children play spinning-tops
to remember me

my father comes back from work
to look for me

my mother knits a jumper for me
and makes me wear it
aeroplanes fly over
to make me happy

in other words
I'm the rose of the world

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MOTHER

I feel your eyes
on my face
even when I sleep

your hands
are so warm
during winter nights

if you were not here
who else would call me
`my little one'

our home is full of you
streets
are lovely
because they lead back to you

mother
please
be with us
stand by us always

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WORLD

the world is big
I'm small

in our village
there is a huge
plane tree
near the plane tree

a river flows
like a song

the river has
big waterfalls
and many fishes

the world is so big

who knows
how many more villages there are
who can count all the plane trees
all the rivers
all the fishes

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I WANT THAT LULLABY

I tried my best
I tried so hard to explain
it is time they understood
I need
a lullaby

shame on you
says my granny
you're a big boy now
you can eat your dinner
all by yourself
you can run
you can even trundle a hoop

but granny can't you
understand
out of all the lullabies
sung to me when I was little
there was one that I missed
that's the one I need now

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BALLOON

daddy, please, hurry
buy me a balloon

I want it to be
as big as the world
but I don't want it
to explode
like the last balloon

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I'M GOING TO THE COUNTRYSIDE

I'm on my way to fields
and meadows

I have my kite
birds are waiting in the sky
because there are pictures of
birds on my kite
they will become alive
when I fly my kite

I'm on my way to fields
and meadows

birds watch me from the branches
when I open my luncheon?box
I'm on my way to fields
and meadows
there is happiness in my heart
rabbits
insects
water comes alive beside me
when I look whole-heartedly
in the evening I return.

my kite is caught
in the branches of a tree
my bread is in the birds' beak
my heart in the palm of my hand

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I CANNOT FORGET MY KITE

I can hear
the footsteps
of my mother
and father

I'm not asleep
they try to think of
something together
in the middle of night

come on my love sleep
look your father
has to get up early

sleep child
your mother's hair
will turn white

they're going too far
I only want
my kite back
the tree has got my kite
bring it back to me
and we can all sleep
we can all rest

they think
I'm crying for nothing

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JEALOUSY

take me by the hand
let's go places
to have fun

let your cheek
be always close to mine

love me the most
call me `little one'
look at me
play with me

I am the most beautiful child
can't you see ?

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UNDERSTANDING

sometimes I understand
my mother
my father
and my granny
sometimes I don't

my mother points at me
and says
bless him he looks
as bright as a jinn

what is a jinn
what does `to look like' mean ?

my father looks at me
and says
he turns the house upside down

how I can I do that
by myself
my granny says
he is livelier than a spinning top

my grandfather alone
who is fair-minded
clever and wise
takes me by the hand

let's go out he says
he gives me sweets
he smiles at me
cuddles me winks at me
and tickles me

I understand my grandfather

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