Live Encounters Poetry & Writing February 2024.
Flamenco, poem by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
The French school
The time I kissed you in the city night
The hours were short and subdued
Your lips were salty
My throat was sad
—
She was walking down that aisle
Between the Street of Stores and the Street of Banks
Lucie’s salon
Was a Kaaba for beauty
An area between the two ranges
—-
Gorgeous blonde like a nation gone by
Pure as the minds of the ancients
Paris alone
Scatters philosophy on girls’ skirts
—-
You walk confidently on the gym paths
Like a historical coincidence
You made the affricative letter among the Arabs
A square where bodies drink
Morning exercises
© Walid EL Khachab
Walid EL Khachab is an Egyptian poet, critic and academic at York University in Canada 20 years ago. He published more than three poetry collections and several critical books. Walid Al-Khachab got the opportunity to work and complete his studies at a Canadian university. He gradually turned into an immigrant university professor, but this immigration did not sever his connection with the reality of cultural life in the Arab world, as he was active in many initiatives based on confirming the presence of Arab creative voices in and outside Canada.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda. She 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. 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 and their poetry, philosophers, historians, and men of letters, under the supervision of UNESCO. Additionally, her poetry translations have been published in various international magazines.