Download PDF Here Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume One Sept-October 2022.
Leaves, poems by Jonas Elbousty.
Leaves
Leaves fly in autumn,
disrobing trees.
Branches are cold, ogling their covers on the sidewalks.
Sounds of rakes, screeching of tarps, noises of leaf blowers.
Passersby tread on leaves, so cautious of the wrath of trees.
Restless
Despondency, loss
And anguish
Wrap around my bones.
Sleepless
Restless
Anxious
And on edges.
I implore you!
What could cure this malady?
Turmoil
There are no words for what we experienced.
Seeds of conflict
Divisiveness
Dissent
Disharmony…
I see seeds of division
Rampant in my beautiful nation.
Shooting and looting are the parlance of the day,
Crimes are ubiquitous.
Why do they tell us that the worst is behind us?
When all I can hear is mom’s shouting from a distance as I walk away
“Be safe, my son…”
Orderly Love
You come in
Chaos flees
Order dominates
Animals rush to welcome you!
Squirrels shake their tails
Birds compose songs
Pigeons coo
Everyone hovers.
You come in
Order seeps in
Love abounds
We all witness your magical touch.
They say there is order in chaos,
But when order seeps in
Chaos disappears.
Sinful Love
She walks in singing
Her melodies floats in the air.
If my love for her is a sin
Then I won’t be asking for redemption.
You captivate my dark side
And you steal my senses
As I walk into the night
Thy image lurks in.
My eyelids cast a stare
I descry
A rose
Rubicund
With a soothing voice.
© Jonas Elbousty
Jonas Elbousty holds an MPhil and PhD in English Studies from Columbia University. He has taught at Emory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Al Akhawayn, Columbia, and Yale. He is a writer, literary translator, and an academic. He is the (co) author of three books, and his work has appeared (or forthcoming) in Michigan Quarterly Review, ArabLit, ArabLit Quarterly, Asheville Poetry Review, Banipal, Prospectus, Sekka, Journal of North African Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle Eastern Literatures, Comparative Literature, among other venues. His translation of Mohamed Choukri’s two short story collections, Flower Crazy and The Tent, is forthcoming from Yale University Press.