Saturday, July 23, 2005

From the poem the Lost Step by Iraqi poet Baland Haydari (my translation):
"Years have gone by
Black nights have grown old
in my eyes and got inflamed...
To whom shall I return...!
to my village
or to the winter tearing
the sidewalk of the station
or to the small lamps
shaking our thrifty village
or to our women dying of timidity
No...
I shall not return...
To whom shall I return
and my village has become
a city
at every turn there is brightness
at every corner there is brightness
at every throw of a step
a light of a new lamp
that will yell at me:
-What do you want..?
What do you want
You, wondering shadow
What do you want..?
Nothing recognizes me here
Nothing I recognize here
Nothing that I remember
and nothing remembers me...
Here
I shall drag my small step
in its big streets
And the blind alleys shall smash me
No...
I shall not return
to whom shall I return
My village has become..a city
It has become a city?"