NIZAR SARTAWI

NIZAR SARTAWI

MY SHADOW

Oh my shadow how you tire me out

you, the deformed ghost

of the agony dwelling within my ribs…!

How you push me to hide in the dark for fear

of you…!

When your ominous emaciated

gloomy image

chases me

or your clumsy silhouette

painted on my path

paces ahead of me

I feel I’m trotting

in front of you

or after you

against my will

that you are pricking my neck

or pulling me by the nose

And if you beside me walk

I feel a monster lying in ambush

about

to

rise up

on his feet

like a ghoul,

and leap

upon me

and put me

to death

All day long I tell

myself:

When my hour comes tomorrow

or after tomorrow

no doubt the angel of death will come

for me alone

and forget you…

and you will attend my funeral

and take part in my burial

And when I’m laid inside the earth

and all my buddies depart

you’ll linger a while above my grave

to gloat over my misfortune

and laugh out loud

then go away

Who knows whom you will go with

after me!

to whom the bad luck will be passed!

a human like me, haunted with his premonitions

or a ferocious monster…?

CONTAINMENT

My sails are wandering aimlessly.

I’ve never thought my passion would be lost

for the sands of the shore

hidden in the grip of fate,

that the waves would rob me of my sensibility

the spray would capture my eyesight

my memory would go obscure

and all my nostalgia will melt

for swords and bridges,

for shops, for taverns and women,

for terrains,

fields

seasons

moons

and ancient monuments.

And I’ve never reckoned

as the engulfing hurricanes swooped on the boat

that I’d I feel numb,

my limbs would shrink thus,

my features would be erased,

and I’d be contained by the moment of mist

the moment of presence

between the soaring of seabirds over my head

and the swirling of whales under my skeleton

ADAM

They say...

O Adam, when you came

out of the clay,

so lonely were you

with innocent eyes,

with innocent lips,

and innocent mind

and heart

and sperm,

that you knew not

but pulses of fear

shaking your ribs

... that you took shelter in a cave

within

the jungle’s womb

to flee from your own heartbeats

They also say ...

that once while your mind was wandering

a ghost or phantom

from the land of the jinn

revealed itself in a woman’s body

They say

she broke open your door

played with your head

seduced you

that since she poured in your

thirsty mouth

the nectar of desire

from her lips

forests of apples

have grown out of your ribs

They say...

that since then

you’ve been staying awake all night

like lovers

dreaming the dreams of lovers

… that you’ve

become bold of eyes

bold of lips

bold of mind

heart

sperm

They say ...

that since you stumbled upon her breasts

and tasted the jinn’s milk,

poetry has flown

out of your mouth

and since then

You’ve been crowned Prince of Poets

EVE

O our great grandmother

You, who were our original sin!

If you were just a rib

that Adam was robbed of

while he was

slumbering

or drunken

whence have you brought those cunning eyes

that dispossessed Adam of his power

liberated him

and us

from the luxury of paradise

NIZAR SARTAWI

NIZAR SARTAWI is a Palestinian poet, translator, essayist, and columnist. He was born in Sarta, Palestine, in 1951. He is a member of numerous literary and cultural organizations, including the Jordanian Writers Association (Jordan), General Union of Palestinian Writers (Palestine), and General Union of Arab Writers (Cairo). He has participated in poetry readings and international forums and festivals in numerous countries, including Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Egypt, Kosovo, and India. Sartawi’s poems have been translated into more than dozen languages. His poetry has been published in more than 40 anthologies, in addition to journals and newspapers, in Arab countries, the U.S., Australia, Kosovo, Indonesia, Singapore, Bosnia, Italy, India, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Sartawi has published more than 25 books of poetry and poetry translations. He has written introductions to a number of books in both Arabic and English. Sartawi was awarded the first prize in translation by Al-Nour Literary Organization in 2013, and Naji Naaman Award for Creativity in 2017. For the last seven years, Sartawi has been working on poetry translation from English to Arabic and Arabic to English. This includes his Arabic poetry translation project, “Arab Contemporary Poets Series”.  He also has translated poems for a large number of modern and contemporary international poets from numerous countries of the world. Sartawi lives with his family in Amman, Jordan.