Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Six November-December 2024.
Arab Poets & Writers
Noon Sadness in August, poem by Sameh Mahgoub.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Noon Sadness in August
From a bus
Crowded with the dead
Children of the dead
I write to you
About my plump neighbor
Who sighed
And the clouds wept blood
About my solitary shoe
Which often
Stuck out its tongue
At passersby
On my behalf
About a flower
Neglected by the sidewalk
And drank from the honey of her breasts
Until it became intoxicated
I write to you
About the noon sadness
In August
About the eternal journey of the sea
About meaning
When it tightens like a noose
Around the necks of the poor
I write to you
Perhaps the sky
Will soften to my plight
Perhaps we…
Will meet by chance
Then return
And meet by chance
Until we teach chance
To betray its own law
In longing
Perhaps time
Will turn its back
To see us…
Strip away day by day
From light, joy, and courage
I write to you
While the old bus
Ravages the earth
And without a glance
The drunken driver
Drops us
One by one
Into the tales
I write to you
While the truth
Is lost
On the glass
Of the stained window.
© Sameh Mahgoub
Sameh Mahgoub is an Egyptian poet who graduated from the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom. He participated in many major poetic and cultural events inside and outside Egypt, including those in Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, and Jordan. In addition, He participated in the jury committees of state awards, as well as obtaining several awards and honors, including: the shield of the Prince of Poets Ahmed Shawky, the Al-Babtain Award for his poem “On the Rhythm of His Laughter, He Walks”, the Atheer Award for Arabic Poetry for his poem “I Write to Defeat My Death”. He issued several poetry collections, including: “Nothing Equals the Sadness of the River”, “Digging with One Hand”, “The Metaphor of Water”, and “The Wind Explains Its Travels”, and some of his poems have been translated into French, English, Russian, and Spanish.
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.