Mourid Barghouti's “It's Also Fine”

Translated into English from Arabic by Radwa Ashour and the poet himself, "It's Also Fine" asserts that not all deaths need to be dramatic or violent. Barghouti's poem features four versagraphs, each dramatizing opposition to the glorification of violent death.

It's Also Fine

It's also fine to die in our beds
on a clean pillow
and among our friends.

It's fine to die, once,
our hands crossed
on our chests empty and pale
with no scratches, no chains, no banners,
and no petitions.

It's fine to have an undustful death,
no holes in our shirts,
and no evidence in our ribs.

It's fine to die
with a white pillow, not the pavement, under our cheeks,
our hands resting in those of our loved ones
surrounded by desperate doctors and nurses,
with nothing left but a graceful farewell,
paying no attention to history,
leaving this world as it is,
hoping that, someday, someone else
will change it.

The speaker in this piece wishes to expresses the notion that not all dying must be done with a dramatic, violent flare; it is perfectly acceptable to die quietly.

First Versagraph: Without Clash and Clamor

It's also fine to die in our beds
on a clean pillow
and among our friends.

The speaker begins as if in response to the claim that death must come from a violent clash against an enemy. He says, "it's also fine"; not simply that it's fine. To some readers, this inclusive term may leave open the acceptance that it might be equally "fine" to die violently, but the speaker's repeated description of a more pleasant death works to refute the notion.

The speaker avers that dying in one's bed with a "clean pillow" while surrounded by friends is a "fine" way to go. The counterpart to this peaceful exit from life might include dying on a battlefield or suffering as the victim of some heinous crime on the hard concrete of a street.

Second Versagraph: Deliberate Slow Exit

It's fine to die, once,
our hands crossed
on our chests empty and pale
with no scratches, no chains, no banners,
and no petitions.

The speaker then states that another fine way to die would be just "once / our hands crossed on our chests." A deliberate, slow existing from the body without visible signs of torture would be acceptable: "with no scratches, no chains, no banners, / and no petitions." The ordinary citizen's death should be as tolerable as a soldier who undergoes mutilation by the barbaric enemy who will not accept political "petitions" or at the hands of criminal in the act of robbery. The ordinary death, according to the speaker, is "fine."

By this point, the reader will become aware that the speaker is engaging in understatement by employing repeatedly the term, "fine." Most folks would find it simply marvelous to die a quiet, uneventful death in a clean surrounding with loved ones in attendance, instead of some violent, ugly scene that too much worldly engagement often bestows on its victims.

Third Versagraph: Without Bullets or Bruises

It's fine to have an undustful death,
no holes in our shirts,
and no evidence in our ribs.

A serene death, "an undustful death" is also suitable. Such a death would leave a body without bullet holes "in our shirts" and "no evidence in our ribs." The body would be whole and untouched, not maimed and battered as those who invite such atrocities in the name of their cause or crime.

Again that "undustful death" sounds much better than simply "fine"; it is preferable by a long stretch to die without bullets in our clothing and without have been subjected to the beating that the act "evidenced in our ribs" would demonstrate.

Fourth Versagraph: On a White Pillow

It's fine to die
with a white pillow, not the pavement, under our cheeks,
our hands resting in those of our loved ones
surrounded by desperate doctors and nurses,
with nothing left but a graceful farewell,
paying no attention to history,
leaving this world as it is,
hoping that, someday, someone else
will change it.

The speaker in the final versagraph reiterates his claims that it is fine to die in bed "with a white pillow." Instead of dying on the sidewalk with "pavement, under our cheeks," we should be allowed to die with our heads on pillows, with our hands "resting in those of our loved one." We should be fine with allowing ourselves the luxury of having "desperate doctors and nurses" buzzing around us trying to keep us from dying. The speaker stresses that it should be all right to leave with "a graceful farewell / paying no attention to history / leaving this world as it is."

The mature adult knows what most adolescents do not, that "changing the world" is a romantic notion. The speaker's stance offers a refreshing counter to notions that glory is attained only through violence. Death should be acceptable even if attained through natural causes, with the departing soul leaving in peace with some level of comfort.

The speaker emphasizes his belief in an affirmative, natural exist into death over the violent manner that many encounter in the name of some worthless cause. By employing his understated descriptor of "fine," the speaker suggests the impact of all the negative, despicable ways one may die. Although "fine" may sound a bit understated, it nevertheless heralds other descriptors that are all positive and without destruction.