Live Encounters Arab Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Five
November- December 2025
Suspicions, poems by Abdel Wahab Al-Melaweh.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Suspicions
Nothing quenches my fires
Not water, not air, not earth
While illusion is a precautionary measure that intensifies the blaze of the mirage,
Who said I am aflame!
I am merely stuck on a bridge swaying between two tunnels that open like stifled screams
The morning is a mouth devouring the dream
And time is a wound drowned in its own affairs
In vain
It arranges the emotion of the trees to the rhythm of my gazes
And I enter my pupil from one side into the gloom
So that my stature vanishes into splinters of flame that rouse the water from its
slumber
Toy with the air, and procure a new garment for the earth
I did not say that I am aflame
The sirens of fire trucks disturb me,
O spectators; there is nothing nobler than a tear fluttering like a butterfly of flame
O spectators; do not break the rhythm of the laughter’s dance
For there is still room in life for more numbness of the soul
And profanities have not yet entered the dictionaries of lovers
Lost in the embrace of lies
Filled with my losses
I will not let tears mend my shroud
My corpse will not stumble as it falls from the hands of my indifference
I am the cause of my breaking
And I am my defeat
I am all that the swindled dream has done to me
I remember nothing of myself, nor do I remember having a morning that opens
like a balcony
Illuminated by the laughter of a mischievous hope
That is what my socks promised me, sent by an old lover as a gift for the birthday of our neighbor’s dog, the sole witness to our day of parting
I am no longer fit for laughter!
I said to my neighbor as he told me a new joke?
Other days will come when we embrace the flower’s scent, so it does not wilt
And other days will come when the Native Americans return as incantations to chase away human-like specters
I will not extinguish myself with a suspected fire
There is still room inside me for more beautiful fires.
The depth
The gardens that do not sleep at night disturb no one
The sea is not, as you think, the deepest
And the sky that rises high is not, in its turn, the highest
Days do not follow in succession
They sometimes falter in the completeness of their roundness and curl around
themselves
A little recklessness will be enough
For life to cease its lying
And for the trees to strip off their shirts in defiance of the alleged justice of the
seasons
Woodstock was not merely a sensual celebration
Or promotional posters for universalizing the benefit of chaos
In this age of collective suicide
How astounding it was that the wings of butterflies could bear the ecstasy of the universe!
And for the apple to belie Newton’s final prayer
And it’s not about Ginsberg’s howl or Kerouac’s road
Or Kubrick’s apple
For the flower could no longer bear its scent, imprisoned in the archive of the future
The trees were skilled at blending rock with blues
As for the air, it abandoned its neutrality
And became less modest
It was necessary
To break the neck of time
And invent another emotion, deeper than the sea and higher than the sky
And more silent than the gardens
It was necessary to have music without rhythm, weeping without tears, joy without laughter, dance without drums, melancholy without sorrow
That is depth.
© Abdel Wahab Al-Melaweh
Abdel Wahab Al-Melaweh (b. 1961) is a prolific Tunisian author whose diverse body of work includes over ten poetry collections, two novels, and several critical studies, in addition to his contributions as a translator.
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.