Extract from 'Unruly Night'
“It is early morning
the dew is still lingering in the fields
and the schools waiting for the little ones
and the birds shivering in the dawn chill
The city is still deep in slumber”*
and I have yet to sleep
a bird has fluttered off my chest,
and fled,
soaring above the clouds
heading for the south east
the south east
abandoning this ruin
for a corner
where I used to play as a child
for my satchel and school jotter
my first sweetheart
mother’s prayers
and father’s supplications
for the onset of my anguish
and the soul I deserted
and left behind
Bird!
have you found them?
have you recognized them?
kindly remember me to them
and salute those holding out there
clinging to my memory
pining for me to return
they are the oil of my lantern
kindly remember me to them all
to my sorrowful soul
... and to my lamented home.
* From “Early morning” by Ghassan Zaqtan
translated by Bouzekri Ettaouchi.
