Barrenness by Iraqi poet Baland Haydari (my translation):
The same road
the same houses, pulled
by deep effort
the same silence
we used to say:
Tomorrow he will die,
and the voices of little
children from every house
will rise
rolling with the day
on the road
and they will mock
our yesterdays
and with our
complaining women
with our frozen eyes
that have no glow
They will not understand
what memories are
They will not understand
the old road
And they will laugh because
they do not ask why
they laugh
*
We used to say:
Tomorrow we shall
understand what we say
and seasons shall bring
us together
Here is a friend
and there is a timid
person
Yesterday there
was deep love
And maybe we
did not mean what
we were saying
And today we are
brought together
by the seasons
That friend
....without a friend
That love...
a thick face
and on the road
the same road
the same houses
pulled by deep effort
the same silence
and there,
behind the closed
windows
there were sinking
eyes
frozen
to wait for the children
and fearful that the day
will pass along with the road