Poetry Part III

First Kisses

From a distance, I stopped and gazed at them
In the garden:
A girl and a boy
She was kissing him
And each time she kissed him he’d wipe his mouth
After the final kiss, she took his hand
He laughed
And this time he kissed her
While their hands were intertwined
My heart sung
A cry of joy just about
Escaped from me; it nearly ruined
A resplendent ritual

Vienna; May 21st, 2001
(translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid;
from “Takhlisat (In Clear)”. Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

With all Due Respect

They wear out your ears:
We’re better than you
With all due respect

They wear out your eyes:
We’re lovelier than you
With all due respect

They assure you that this world is nothing
But idle talk, that it isn’t worth the effort
Yet they rest lazily upon it
Then they instruct you that the righteous life
Is in this wretched rotten earth

With all due respect
They assure you that you’re on the path of error
That you need support and guidance

With all due respect
They cast your head into the sea
Then give you a new one filled with emptiness
They present you with prayers and rosaries
They remind you of what they want and how to speak
And assure you—once again—that your life’s in danger

All of this and you don’t complain about a thing
Nor do you doubt them
Though they have yet to learn your name
Or even where you’re from

[Virginia, U.S.A.; May 28th, 1999]
(translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

They Came from the Sky

They emerged from the earth
Yet believed that they came from the sky
They tread on piety and holy water
They played with souls’ eternity
They had people sweat a flood for them
Then rebuked them for the stench
They preached the burning rain
And the exile from paradise
Then perfumed themselves
And hurried home to sleep

They feared the coming day

So their leader sung to them and gave them comfort
He said that they were children of the sky
That their fate was assured in this life and the next
They longed for sweat and sacrifice:
They were tempted by the burning water
By the transience of the world

And when the soul strayed
They kept on looking to the sky
From whence they thought they’d come…

They were planted in the earth
Yet still believed
That they came from the sky

[New Jersey, U.S.A.; May 13th, 1999]
(translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

Circus

The circus is set up with care
Rain falls through
The tent’s shredded grey fabric
Now and again in the pale light
Somnolent spectators
Applaud the bear-trainer
A girl on a rope turns somersaults through the air
A girl on the ground yells into the microphone
A clapping clown rolls on a ball
A man pours sweat as if he’s praying …

A donkey in the corner stomps the ground in boredom
A lion’s trapped behind the bars
A tiger leaps through loops of flame
Elephants walk in a circle
A dog barks, a musician barks
And it’s raining

I was sitting in the middle of the listless crowd
When the stranger beside me suddenly
Nudged me to applaud:
I didn’t.
And so a man arrived, a wonder to see
With a tie and a butterfly and a funny hat
Looking like he’d just emerged from some chicken coop
He angrily asked for my ticket
And when he saw it he cried:
“You’re sitting in the wrong place!”
He led me off and sat me down behind a pole
Where all I could see was the donkey in its distant corner
Sill stomping the ground in boredom

[Vienna, March 14th; 2001](translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

Stars

A calm child
Spoke softly
To the stars

He grew up

His voice grew coarse
The stars fell
Onto his shoulders
His feet grew heavy
As did his heart
As did his voice

[Vienna; December 5th, 1995](translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

My Lot in the Days of the Lord

I divide the days of the lord
Into sunlit and sunless
I found joy in the first of these
Delight and peace of mind

Yet the sun has been gone for months
And I have no veil to delude me
No memory of rites to inspire me
Nor even the remnants of a dream
To take my mind off this

My days without a shadow
Persist
And persist
Until I’m worn out by my lot
By my division of the days of the lord

Now I divide the days of the lord
Into ordinary and others that are also ordinary
With time I grow used to being
The same in the one and the other

[Weitersfeld, northern Austria; December 24th, 2000]
(translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)

Birth

She is
On the verge of death

He is
On the verge of life

Through their cries
In the cramped room
They share life
And shake off death

[Vienna; May 7th, 2001]
(translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu Zeid.
From " Takhlisat (In Clear)". Irhab al-ayn al-bayda. Poetry, Merit Publishing House, Cairo 2002)