Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Six November-December 2024.
Arab Poets & Writers
Residing in Echo, poem by Ali Al-Hazmi.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Residing in Echo
I never turned to the past, I walked toward my tomorrow
Wrapped in clouds and light rain
I listen to the melody of life as if I were born at dawn
And I did not ask about those who shared my wandering dream
About those who fell into the pulse of my wounded song
Who walked in the wake of the anthem’s rhyme
And awakened a slender flute in the depths of the soul.
I never turned to the past, I walked toward my tomorrow
Advancing my steps, racing through the paths of dreams
A child of my pains, I step and open a smile for the light in his eyes
Clinging to the wing of a song, I soar behind questions that overlook absence
I chose from the flock of metallic faces to gaze into the void
And to initiate my residence outside as I see my shadow there
Clearly at sunset.
I never turned to the past, I walked toward my tomorrow
From the first cry before the call of those who passed from the ancestors
In my language, I was born, I was born from the wombs of the thirsty deserts
To the dew, I embraced the shawl of the wind in its wandering and drank
From a thirst that looms over the chants of the horizon.
But I have never bowed to the shade of a cloud that crossed
The wasteland of the soul and the distant yesterday.
I am the heir of confusion and memory
Residing in my free absence, bound to the snare of dust
I am the guardian of dreams from their tomorrow
And the priest of my first and last desire
I lean in my night towards a twilight enveloped in confusion
Captivated by the dwelling in the echoes of silence
Lightening the burden of the weights of existence
Nothing matters to me to touch in my imagination its shade
A phantom I see whenever I spoke to my face
In the mirrors of my solitude at dawn.
© Ali Al-Hazmi
Ali Al-Hazmi (1970) is a Saudi poet who obtained BA from the Arabic Language Department at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca. His poems were published in Arab newspapers, magazines and many specialized cultural periodicals. He participated in reviving many poetry evenings in many local literary clubs, literary festivals and forums in a number of countries around the world. He has published nearly seven poetry books. Moreover, his poetry collections have been translated into French, English, Turkish, Romanian, German, Spanish and other languages. Al-Hazmi, also, awarded national and international prizes, among them: Poetry Prize at the Uruguayan Poetry Festival 201, The Grand International Prize of the International Poetry Nights Festival in Romania 2017, “Verbumlandi” International Poetry Prize, Italy, 2017, “Best International Poet of 2018” award from the International Poetry Translation and Research Center in China (IPRC).
Salwa Gouda is an Egyptian literary translator, critic, and academic at the English Language and Literature Department at Ain-Shams University. She holds a PhD in English literature and criticism. She received her education at Ain-Shams University and California State University in San Bernardino. Furthermore, she has published several academic books, including Lectures in English Poetry and introduction to Modern Literary Criticism, and others. She has also contributed to the translation of “The Arab Encyclopedia for Pioneers,” which includes poets, philosophers, historians, and men of letters, under the supervision of UNESCO. Also, her translated poetry anthology, entitled Dogs Pass Through My Fingers, was published recently through Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Additionally, her literary translations have been published in various international magazines.