There are flowers of Zait in the garden.
I cut and bind flowers for you,
Making a garland,
And when you get drunk
And lie down to sleep it off,
I am the one who bathes the dust from your feet.
translated by Ezra Pound & Noel Stock
Month: September 2016
Egyptian love poem 1
I find my love fishing
His feet in the shallows.
We have breakfast together,
And drink beer.
I offer him the magic of my thighs
He is caught in the spell.
translated by Ezra Pound & Noel Stock
Silhouette by Annette M’Baye
Behind, sun, before, shadow!
A watergourd on a stately head,
A breast, a strip of loincloth fluttering,
Two feet that erase the pattern on the sand.
translated by Kathleen Weaver
on love
how long
can you hold
the wind
in your hands
untitled poem by Hwang Chin-i
Mountains are steadfast but the mountain streams
Go by, go by,
And yesterdays are like rushing streams,
They fly, they fly,
And the great heroes, famous for a day,
They die, they die.
translated by Peter H. Lee
on reading history
history
filled with war
raids on seacoasts
the siege of cities
thousands killed
enslaved
for the glory
of power hungry leaders
yesterday
today
tomorrow
human nature
they say
national security
they say
to ensure peace
they say
so easy
to say
to say
untitled poem 2 by Hwang Chin-i
The blue hill is my desire,
the green stream my beloved’s love.
Even if the stream flows away,
how can the hill ever change?
Never forgetting the hill, I wonder,
does the stream cry as it leaves?
translated by Ko Won
night to morning, Maltepe
there are horns
tires screeching
a shout or two
dogs barking
a rooster crows
somewhere
toward morning
then light
fills the sky
listening to Tom Waits at three in the morning
that voice
in the darkness
calling out
calling out
to anyone listening
a shot of whiskey
the piano melting
and you
in a red dress
dancing
dancing
just for me
from a line by Li Ch’ing-chao: nothing can ever make it fade or disappear
there
on my heart
indelibly etched
an image
you
and nothing
can ever make it fade
or disappear
Leonard Durso 