AHMAD AL-KHATAT

 

The Song Of Life

 

A song you’d be thrilled to hear,

with eyes sharing their sorrows

to the nightingale

a grief’s mouthpiece takes me

to innumerable nostalgia

We hear the lyrics of the song,

as clothes become wet from

sobbing to the morning daylight,

not moonless nights...

 

Wings In The Wind

 

Periodically, I see everything

all at once

I know every corner I walk

by myself

 

I turn my skull before I make a

rational conclusion, I wrap my finger

to assemble my achievement

in Montreal and Baghdad.

 

When my generation was removed,

It erased my innocence,

It erased my imagination,

Shatter my days into black as soil

 

Death has forgotten about

Wings in the wind, after it demolished

my written poems to homeless signs

as if I am playing marbles barefoot.

 

The Finest Cigarette

 

On the first day of the new year,

I light the finest cigarette up and

sip a cup of black coffee by myself,

then write about hope on the typewriter.

 

The night born with stars and torn them

The children of world recall their little pets

While the children of Iraq & Syria remember

the dates of their sibling’s death in the war.

 

I no longer run after the birds and butterflies

My days are low, like the tears of a dying angel

My life is no longer delightful and brief 

Even love has been eliminated from my universe.

 

No one seems to care about my flying wings

Everyone is celebrating the night we shattered

The wooden floor sustained your bitterness tears

This oppression made me an alcoholic and hopeless.

 

Another cigarette, another bottle of Russian whiskey

Another great rhythm and blues to listen to alone

Waiting for the time, and walk missing from the pub

Destiny undresses my flesh and leaves me as rotten skulls.

 

AHMAD AL-KHATAT

 

AHMAD AL-KHATAT was born in Baghdad, Iraq. His work has appeared in print and online journals globally. He has poems translated into several languages such as Farsi, Chinses, Spanish, Albanian, Romanian. He has published some poetry chapbooks, and a collection of short stories. He has been nominated for Best of the Net 2019 and was also nominated for the Pushcart Price 2020.