Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Six November-December 2024.
Arab Poets & Writers
Lady of the Stars, poem by Al-Mothanna Alcheikh Atiah.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Lady of the Stars
With a proud shimmer atop the mountain
Before the child
A red dot for the embrace of earth and sky
And does not reveal to him to which of them it belongs
A captivating seductress that freezes his heart with chains of fire
And quickens the flutter of his wings to what precedes the light
And stands waiting
For his arrival in the form he chose after the ice of the cave/
We are climbers of the mountains of doom
We have prepared the thorns of our feet for the ascent and to attain it
Just as golden cups are harvested after running marathons
Just as pearls are plucked after breathless moments in the depths of the seas
Just as a bride is snatched away surrounded by merciless cousins
And just as every heart hides its imagination from others
For her…
We are climbers of the mountains of doom
We have sharpened the teeth of our gear for ascent
Enthralled by our dreams, illusions, and ambitions
Our muscles charged with the confidence of the rock we tread
Our skins tanned by the coming frost to bite the flesh
Our maps erase the mirage of loss on the fringes of the stars
Our popular books unravel the mysteries of the wilderness and the fangs of the bends
And our songs nourish us when we despair with hope
That people before us have plucked
The lady of the stars
From the mouth of doom…
On the long path of our clamor that we climb
We gaze with envious eyes at one another
Among us, the unknown mock our names and our attire
And they pass by, indifferent to our disputes
Among us, the famous who have plucked it and the spears in their hearts
Climb again with us
Because whoever has tasted it will be deprived of the flavor of forgetfulness
Among us, one has become a shrine for its lovers
One who drew it as a red star on his cap
One who transformed himself into a white rose and a bottle of water,
sealing the mouths of rifles
One who accepted to have his tomb eaten by the guardians of darkness
To remain a light in our hearts…
On the path of doom, we pass through the barriers of upbringing, taboos,
and coercion
Pointed by the riddle of the monster’s question about humanity
And with its blades preventing us
Pass by the mountain mirrors, set up wherever we turn in front of us
Terrifyingly displaying our images in the fangs of torment
In hell, we are intoxicated on skewers held by the priests
In hell, our skins are melted by the calculators and grow back to be melted again
Hanging by the hooks of our screams that bounce back to us
Stunned by the glass of the man who watches us
We pass by the mirrors of our torture in prisons
Whips that skin our flesh
Batons that shatter the vertebrae of our backs
Fire, electricity, acids that dissolve us
Stakes and mallets that crush the organs of our fertility
Rapes of our women, our girls, our boys, and our men in front of us
We pass by the mirrors of our abduction
By the fangs of the road and our honor
We pass by our mirrors, eating each other
On the path of confusion toward it…
© Al-Mothanna Alcheikh Atiah
Al-Mothanna Alcheikh Atiah, a Syrian poet and novelist, was born in Deir ez-Zor – Syria in 1953. He graduated from the College of Agriculture in Damascus in 1980. He published a poetry collection for Dar Al-Haqiqat in Beirut under the title “Yes, there is More” in 1979, and a collection of poetry under the title “Mouth of The Rose” in 1989, and a novel under the title “Lady of the Kingdom” in 2006, from the Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing in Beirut. In addition, he published a critical book under the title “The Poetic Rhythm of the Intifada” in 1990 from Dar Al-Aswar in Akka. He worked in journalism as managing editor for cultural affairs in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper in 1984 and managing editor of the new Shahrazad magazine in Cyprus in 1990.
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.