Live Encounters Arab Women Poets & Writers April 2024.
At one a.m. orders, poems by Asia Al-Ammari.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
At one a.m. orders
Bring a cup
I will pour us
A sweet meeting.
Bring your hand
We will light
A candle
For an apparent joy.
Bring your mouth
We will move a song
In the air.
Bring your pillow
I will hide it under
A dream coming true.
Bring your heart
It will stop its light beat
And will leap to my windows.
Bring your perfume
It will blend with mine
Now.
About two dancers
who did not turn towards us
We sat silent
Not knowing what to say
About our steps
That we do not know.
There are two dancers
Approaching
And receding
Like waves
In front of us, we who
Are afraid of drowning.
Do they feel two
Belonging to the seats
Not the music ?!
Will they be sad if they knew
That there are those who watched them for a long time
And left
Before they turned
Towards them?
© Asia Al-Ammari
Asia Al-Ammari is a prominent Saudi poet and academic from Saudi Arabia. She has published more than four poetry collections, which are subject to critical study.
Translation by Dr. Salwa Gouda, 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.