This land is a whore
holding out a hand to the years ...
Our land makes love to the sailors
and strips naked before the newcomers ...
there seems to be nothing that would bind it to us,
and I -- if not for the lock of your hair,
auburn as the nectar of carob ...
Your braid
is the only thing
linking me, like a noose, to this whore.
And so I come to the place itself ...
Where are the bleating lambs
and pomegranates of evening --
the smell of bread
and the grouse?
Where are the windows,
and where is the ease of Amira's braid?
Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali
Goose bumps as I read this poet that I only heard of a couple of times. Here, a review of a biography of Taha, "My happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness" by Adina Hoffman.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
<span><span>"Though his own career as a poet began late in life, Ali's store in Nazareth was a frequent meeting place for important Palestinian literary figures, including Michel Haddad amongst others. At this point the book becomes, as Hoffman calls it, a "kind of group portrait." Hoffman explains, "Taha is hardly the only artist in this story ... To understand Taha and his place in Palestinian and indeed Arabic letters, it's crucial to be conscious of the range of personalities that have surrounded him over the years."
ReplyDeleteWhile the reader occasionally loses Ali in My Happiness, the book compels the reader to search out his poetry -- available to English-readers in So What: New and Selected Poems 1971-2005 translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi and Gabriel Levin -- and there he comes into full view."</span></span>
I haven't heard much about him either but I like his style, its so direct and forceful.
ReplyDelete"Revenge" by Palestinian Poet Taha Muhammad Ali
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cmes.arizona.edu/outreach/files/High%20School%20English%206%20-%20Poems.pdf
Reading the first paragraph I immediately thought of two poets. T. S. Elliot and Muhammad el Maghout. I love it. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete