Live Encounters Poetry & Writing September 2024
The Seagull, poem by Emad Ghazali.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
The Seagull
Oh, what a stubborn seagull I am!
I dreamed one day
To fly farther
To scream louder
To make the hunter despair of me, gnawing on his nails
To peck at his filthy eyes with the sight of blood
To teach him wisdom.
Oh, what a wise seagull I am!
I understood one day
That accompanying the earthlings is a threshold
To losing the horizon
That believing them in their claims of ancient chivalry
(When one of them managed to ascend the peaks
And another flew with wax wings
At noon
And a third curled the flat Earth
In his fist)
A mere trap
For ascending the slopes.
Oh, what a peculiar seagull I am!
I lament my solitude in the cold
Suffering for those
Who set traps for me
Suspended in the sky
They direct their angry beaks at me
And envy my solitude
With fiery rays.
Oh, what a fortunate seagull I am!
One night, I soared – my body glowing –
Above the city rooftops
And its people asked me
To grant them the kingdom of heaven
So I could rule over them
Delighted
I paid them the treasures I had hoarded of fluff
I built my throne
From the gentle air and dewdrops
I reigned over them for twenty years
Filled
With laughter, intoxication, and noise
While I watched them unable to hold onto
What they already had.
Oh, what a seagull I am!
One day, the thought struck me
To break free from destiny
I soared further away
I called out louder
I wore a sniper’s bullet as a charm
Around my neck
And amused myself with the tales of those who keep their heads Bowed
As I mockingly drifted through the city’s air
And my inner voice whispered that my scheme
Is clever
And that we both slipped away
Towards our destinies.
© Emad Ghazali
Emad Ghazali (1962) is an Egyptian poet who published nine poetry collections. His poems were issued in most literary periodicals in Egypt and in some Arab countries. He is a member of the Writers’ Union in Egypt and a member of the Poetry Committee of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Culture.
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. Furthermore, 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, philosophers, historians, and men of letters, under the supervision of UNESCO. Also, her translated poetry anthology, entitled Dogs Pass Through My Fingers, was published recently through Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Additionally, her literary translations have been published in various international magazines.