Live Encounters Poetry & Writing June 2024.
A Cat, poem by Ahmed Nabawi.
Translated from Arabic to English by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
A cat
In panic
A cat passed by
Dying of hunger
While trying to escape from the stabs in their eyes
As all the dogs of the earth were chasing it
Lurking ,in greed, its journey
Nibbling as it steals a glance, its path
And telling on the table of the night, its tale
It was wandering in the land of God
Seeking while weak, food for its babies
Sometimes it succeeds
In extracting scraps from among the harsh world
But
When the situation becomes tough
It would eat some earthworms
And sometimes
It would eat in pain from what some people throw at it
One evening
While trying, in the middle of the street
To get rid of a dog that was chasing it
So it could reach under the cover of night
Those whom God entrusted it to
The cat was hit—in reckless violence—by a car
And without care
The passersby and cars trampled on its blood
At that moment, all the street dogs
Would swoop down—in their greed—on its sanctity
And on the other side
There were young ones who
Due to their extreme hunger, crying
Hastily waiting for mother’s return.
© 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.