Live Encounters Poetry & Writing March 2024.
A color and shades, poems by Ahmed Nabawi.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
A color and shades
There are clouds in the soul
That the two colors
Black and red remain
In the emblems of countries
He does not know
Where does sadness come from?
And how does it come?
And why does the thorn pricks
In the human heart?
****
He does not know
What is the secret of the overwhelming sadness
In the artist’s brush?
Does the color choose sadness
Out of its own free will
Or is it intentionally done by the brush?
And why does the tree of sorrow
Grow bigger in the painting?
And why does it appear in the east of the painting
Dreams behind bars
And a nostalgic woman in love
Who screams silently
Behind the walls?
And why is there a human being
Blurs with black
In violence
The flowers of his fellow man?
And to the north of the painting
A person who grows
In monster form?
****
He always wonders in pain
From where?
And how does it enter us?
And why?
A color dominates the painting
Only one color.
All expats
There are clouds in the soul
All expats
No matter how different they are
And how did they travel
And where did their attention go
All expats are
Indigent people
They removed themselves
From the embrace of home
Or they were taken away
Against their will
When the restrictions on their hands became more severe
or
When it broke
Within them
Colors of joy
or
When the violence of hurricane
Threw them onto the vast land.
***
All expats are
Loving people
The humiliation of alienation disturbs them
And a never ending nostalgia
Towards the motherland
And a hidden red moan
Unmistakable
If you focus with their eyes.
***
All expats are
Losers
And oppressed
And patriots
They left their houses reluctantly and anxiously
They paid a lifetime
To leave a light for his fellow brother
And to facilitate
A way to earn a living
And opens a window and a neighborhood.
***
All expats are
Interval questions
Looking for answers
In the motherland
And the motherland
Unfortunately
Places them
On the sidelines
In a faded, worn-out memory
***
All expats are
Without exception
Revolutionaries
They took a stab
Followed by a stab
but
Under a hopeful sky
They fold the heart over the wound
And they go on.
***
All expats are humiliated
No matter how strong they look
They are weak
They have no stronghold to secure them
Nothing secures
Except the motherland
And the motherland
Unfortunately
Puts them on the margin
In a faded, worn-out memory.
© Ahmed Nabawi
Ahmed Nabawi is an Egyptian poet and academic. He deals with humanitarian themes in his poetry. His poetic career began early in the nineties. He has five collections of poetry: (Testimony of Love), (Wounds Have Tributaries), (Flames of Questions), (Scenes from the Refugee Camp).(The Brilliance of Colors), and two collections in print entitled (An Ant Said – The Doors). In addition, he has a collection of critical books, including The Poet’s Culture and the Production of Significance – The Poetics of Small Details – The Contemplative Tendency in Andalusian Poetry – The Heritage Tributaries in Andalusian Poetry.
Dr. 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. 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.