Live Encounters Arab Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Five
November- December 2025
Phobia of Bridges, poems by Amina El Hocine Hazmoune.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Phobia of Bridges
Come, let me tell you a little about myself,
For I fear too much longing.
Come, share with me the bread of my sorrow,
And shatter the jars of ego and pride.
Come, we will weep together for a long time,
And when our eyelids dry, we will revolt.
Come, for this life is a passage,
And we are a crossing that hints at passing.
And I know you recognize my scent,
Even if they separate us in the graves!
And you know the color of my tresses when
I slept like wheat stalks by the stream.
Your absence is heavy upon me, yet
It is lighter than death in your presence.
I will take refuge in you, despite my burning,
Even if they drape the ages over my soul.
Your love is a majestic ascent, but
I suffer from a phobia of bridges.
A Polished Monument of Longing
I smile, but my heart is sorrowful!
And conjectures wander the desert of my soul!
I am a woman of shadows and light
Who bestows poetry upon the world.
I fear when the seasons part us,
And the sun of certainty is eclipsed by doubt.
So who will close the door when the winds of reproach
Blow upon the lovers?
And who will listen to the heart when it sings,
And incessantly murmurs with passion?
I love you, so take the details of my life—
Fields of perfume and jasmine.
And tell Time, which did not allow us
To tuck poems between the years,
That one day we will return to a land that enchanted us
And plant, with love, palms and figs.
Smile, so a sun may rise in my soul,
And be the happiest of people, so that I may be.
I implore you! Do not ask the Night about me,
And do not press Time before it is due!
For since we anticipated the farewell, we abandoned
The path of poems for passersby.
We went on crumbling the bread of hopes,
Feeding it to the captive bird of imagination.
We awoke to find the day strange,
We glimpsed it in drowsy eyes.
And you said: “Come!” But I said, “Wait for me!
And saddle the steed of passion and longing!
And prepare the clouds for us, so that no envious one,
Agitated by dreamers, may see us.
Come, let us pilgrimage to a lofty horizon
Where a star celebrates madness!”
Blessed be all the stars of our love,
It grows with love, like an embryo.
Let us bid the chaos of life farewell for a while,
And dwell where silence is complete.
© Amina El Hocine Hazmoune
Amina El Hocine Hazmoune is a neurologist from Algeria with a parallel and highly accomplished career as a prolific writer and poet. She has garnered significant recognition, winning numerous prestigious literary awards across the Arab world—including in the UAE, Kuwait, and Sharjah—for her novels, poetry, and plays, and has been shortlisted for others like the Abi Al-Qasim Al-Shabi Award. Her publications, such as the novel “The Mad Do Not Die” and poetry collection “Black Details,” have not only been published internationally but have also become the subject of academic studies and Master’s theses in Algerian universities, and one of her poems was included in a university curriculum in India, underscoring her significant impact on contemporary Arabic literature.
Dr Salwa Gouda is an accomplished Egyptian literary translator, critic, and academic affiliated with the English Language and Literature Department at Ain Shams University. Holding a PhD in English literature and criticism, Dr. Gouda pursued her education at both Ain Shams University and California State University, San Bernardino. She has authored several academic works, including Lectures in English Poetry and Introduction to Modern Literary Criticism, among others. Dr. Gouda also played a significant role in translating The Arab Encyclopedia for Pioneers, a comprehensive project featuring poets, philosophers, historians, and literary figures, conducted under the auspices of UNESCO. Recently, her poetry translations have been featured in a poetry anthology published by Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Her work has also appeared in numerous international literary magazines, further solidifying her contributions to the field of literary translation and criticism.