Live Encounters Poetry & Writing August 2024
I write to conquer my death, poem by Sameh Mahgoub.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
I write to conquer my death
I write to break free from my constraints
To leave a perplexing question
Above the river’s lips
For a prophet who comes after me
Sitting in the seafront café
And signing in my name
Above the lips of his rustic beloved
I write so that love in a café does not mourn
If the narrative comes to an end.
I write
To unlock the gates of heaven
For the rebels and the outlaws
Those with the blue collars
Imbued with the spirit of defiance
I know that God is beautiful
And that’s why
I open the gates of paradise
Without seeking permission.
I write
So that I can see myself
In the darkness of my own, something I do not know
It does not know me
We intertwine every morning
Then we return as two
We are brought together by the love of a woman
Who loves only herself
How dreadful it is for a person to beg for his shadow!
I write
So that all my beloved ones can hear me
Those who nibble at my heart
So they become a love poem
In my blue notebook
Time jumped quickly over my wall
And time split in half
But I am still there
Waiting for a poem
The cloud has run out and did not flash.
I write
To satisfy the text’s anxiety
There is a female invading my bed now:
You are stupid
She said, and my ten fingers
Gently prowl around the waist:
Do not look around in a clear meaning
Say to the sun: good morning
And to yourself in the mirror…
How ugly I am!
The world is more beautiful than a language
That doesn’t feel the longing of a woman for her first love.
I write..
So that another Cain doesn’t kill
Another Abel
So that the world expands
To include the white and the black
Strike the ground with your wing..
So that a word comes out
Free your soul from your body.
So that it becomes a word
Flee from yourself..
So that a word penetrates
Tell your girl
Before boarding the sea
I love you..
So that a word grieves
Be a word..
So that you see.
I write
So that I defeat my death..
My filthy friends
With the noise of the mind..
They are still waiting for the revelation..
Under the sky of the imaginary gods
No sanctity for an angel
Not touched by masturbation
No sanctity for a single meaning
Salma said:
Do not love anyone but me..
I am the heroine of your first poem
I am your tears standing on the roads
I am the witness at your grave..
I water your cactus from my breast
And I guide the legend to you
Before the flood.
© 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 a number of 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 a number of 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.
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.