It seems a Palestinean poet and activist has been nominated for a very large prize and the Canadian government won't let him in the country. In a way, it's good that poets (and poetry?) are seen as dangerous and subversive. Andrei Codrescu, a writer and teacher (and NPR broadcaster) from Romania, said

Two decades ago you could still get away with a radical rant, for instance, but these days they’ll turn you in to Homeland Security. In the 90s I used to give a poetry assignment: Write a poem you can be arrested for! But in 2010, they’d take me out in handcuffs if I did that.”

So Codrescu thinks a teacher can't even give an assignment to write a poem you'd be arrested for. Zaqtan hasn't been arrested for his poetry, but he has been barred from Canada. (My guess is that it isn't his poetry that barred him, but his longstanding association with political organizations in Ramallah. Oh Canada, get over yourself.)

Ghassan Zaqtan poems in translation can be found on line.

THE ONE YOU ACCIDENTALLY FOUND IN THE MIRROR

The one you accidentally found in the mirror

in its dark corner to be exact

was there alone thinking of you

befriending your solitude

The one, because you are in need of company no more,

you called out of his darkness and fed

with your hands

You used to call him and he’d come

point to him and he’d jump to his feet

and as soon as you’d turn your back he’d unload on you

his hyena stare before returning to his corner

Now you recall all this

since you must pass a long time here

staring at the mirror

at its dark corner to be exact

as he sits in your chair

feeds you with his own hands

and passes you some water

calls to you

and you come

poet and the austere moment now at hand.