Live Encounters Poetry & Writing February 2026.
Folds of the Scarf, poems by Aicha Bassry.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Folds of the Scarf
Between the folds of my scarf, he tucked his fingers,
and counted them, fold by fold:
a fold of love,
a fold of absence,
a fold of forgetting,
a fold of disappointment,
a fold of memory,
a fold of death.
In pain, I do not trust a man
I trust the scarf’s soft moan.
The Commandments
Make me the icon of your chest,
atone for the worst of sins.
Guard your tongue, speak with your heart,
and a window of my secrets will open for you.
Take me as the woman I am
I will restore your wildness and the dew of your youth.
Follow my scent,
be patient with what is mysterious in me,
for no man before you has ever fathomed a woman’s depths.
Be a nectar that rises through the veins,
prune back the branches of me that stray,
until the flower of eternity blooms in your palm.
Draw me as a cloud on the horizon of your soul
I will rain with shyness each time your breeze caresses me.
Tuck me away like a tear between your lashes,
and I will fall like rain
each time the tree of your sorrow blooms.
Hide me like a secret word between your lines,
a drop of perfume in your ink. Keep my name close,
for no poet who reveals his beloved’s name
lets the poem live.
Do not trust all the honey that drips from my lips
some of it is the weeping of your own wounds.
Long ago,
I caught my reflection in the river’s mirror,
was startled by my own beauty, and so loved you
from the overflow of that love, I created you.
So beware—do not let the crystal of my body slip from your hands,
lest I become your eternal ache.
A Nursery of Kisses
Whenever your lips touch
a marble-smooth part of my body,
from sheer shyness
the blossoms of sleep fall away.
By daybreak,
the bed had filled
with flowers,
and with kisses that had fallen.
Ignition
When you become both the fire and the straw,
know that no ocean can quench you
except a sip of her mouth’s nectar.
So worship like an ember in its own flame,
crack open like clay in her hands.
Then prepare for the sweetness of water—
perhaps,
perhaps she will take pity and lead you to the spring.
Your Heart Is in Your Eyes
Your eyes—the blue ones,
the green ones,
the gray ones,
colorless ones.
Rejoice a little so I may see the sea.
Look at me so I may see the world’s green.
Be angry a little so I may see the cloud.
Your heart is in your eyes—
it never has,
and never will be,
the possession of one woman,
but rather
a crossing-point for many.
© Aicha Bassry
Dr Salwa Gouda is an accomplished Egyptian literary translator, critic, and academic affiliated with the English Language and Literature Department at Ain Shams University. Holding a PhD in English literature and criticism, Dr. Gouda pursued her education at both Ain Shams University and California State University, San Bernardino. She has authored several academic works, including Lectures in English Poetry and Introduction to Modern Literary Criticism, among others. Dr. Gouda also played a significant role in translating The Arab Encyclopedia for Pioneers, a comprehensive project featuring poets, philosophers, historians, and literary figures, conducted under the auspices of UNESCO. Recently, her poetry translations have been featured in a poetry anthology published by Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Her work has also appeared in numerous international literary magazines, further solidifying her contributions to the field of literary translation and criticism.
Aicha Bassry is a distinguished Moroccan poet, novelist, and storyteller. She is the author of multiple acclaimed novels and poetry collections. Her work has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the International Kateb Yassin Prize for the Novel (Algeria, 2016) for Greta Garbo’s Granddaughters, the Simone Landry Prize for Women’s Poetry (Paris, 2017) for her collection The Bathers in Thirst, and the Award for Best Arabic Novel in 2018 at the Sharjah International Book Fair (UAE). Bassry’s writing has reached a global readership through translation into English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish. She is a frequent participant in major cultural forums across the Arab world and internationally, contributing to book fairs, literary festivals, and conferences.