Live Encounters Arab Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Five
November- December 2025
Prison, poems by Dakhil Alkhalifa.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Prison
Whenever I put my heart in a cage
I found its door open
And I am a creature imprisoned by flight!
It wounds me when a shadow enters me
And sends my heart tumbling out of my body
Love wounds me when it looks back, wingless
Fear wounds me when it steps out, unclothed.
My eyelash wounds me when it is sharp as a blade
That stabs
And vanishes!
All these spaces are my home
Yet I am alone… alone
Like my heart
I count my wounds as I count the grey hairs in my beard
And the cage door is open!
Hunger
He passed by me, hungry
And leaned on the cliff of my heart
He browsed through me
When he found no river within me
He wept!
Illusion
In my hands, an illusion
And in your eyes, a wild dove
Whenever I think of finding shade in your lashes
The dove flies away!
Shadow
I took my fingers off my hand
I put my head between two horns
So, in the void!
Let those who laugh, pass by in their blackness
They mock a headless shadow
And a hand searching for its fingers
In the pockets of the corpse!
Corpse
If only a shadow would pass
By my faltering pulse over there
To discover my corpse before I escape from it
If only a foot would forget its sister for a moment
It would step on my petrified tear
If only a dog would bark
I would rise
Dragging the street by my lower half!
Fingers
I have
Nine fingers, and the tenth is a lost homeland!
My streets
Are orphaned, and my darkness is heartless
I hide my head inside my heart
I mend my life with an old song
I walk alone
While the streets turn to look at a body with no shadow
And nine fingers!
© Dakhil Alkhalifa
Dakhil Alkhalifa, born in Kuwait on May 4, 1964, is a prolific poet with eight published poetry collections to his name. In addition to his writing, he has worked as an editor for several Kuwaiti newspapers and has further contributed to the literary scene by leading five workshops focused on “the new poem.” Furthermore, his talent was recognized when he earned second place in the prestigious Al-Mu’allaqa Poetry Competition organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture.
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.
To Dakhil Alkhalifa,
Your poetry carries the pulse of a generation searching for meaning between the silences of modern life. Each line feels like a bridge between Kuwait’s soul and the universal language of feeling.
As a poet, editor, and mentor, you have not only written verses — you have cultivated a movement, giving voice to “the new poem” and shaping its rhythm in the Arab world.
Your words do not merely describe the world — they reimagine it, and in doing so, remind us that poetry is not just art, but a form of existence.