Skip to main content
Read page text
page 10
SAADIAH MUFARREH without giving prior thought to the rest of the day. 15 I want a new temptation only for a few days. 16 I want a black and white film whose heroine I can sing along with; I imagine myself in her tight pullover and flowing skirt, wipe away my tears, and laugh at her naïveté, until I justify all of the naiveties of my past. 17 I want a soft song for a sleepless night. 18 I want a long, full day, with the smell of the sand and sea, car exhaust, and fewer missed calls on my cell phone. 19 I want a very short day, enough for writing a poem, composed as I desire, leisurely, unadorned, and without a draft. 20 I want a short night framed in tranquility, ending with a death 8 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES
page 11
SAADIAH MUFARREH that concerns no one. 21 I want a long night, I mean truly long. 22 I want to live without that being my eternal fate when alternatives are scarce. 23 Sometimes I want to die without having to do so. 24 I want only it. What is it? Who is it? I don’t want an answer in any case. 25 “We are first among the peoples of the world, or we are in the grave” * Yes, all of the honour is inevitably for this modest man; let him leave me a grave with at least one window! * These lines are by the 10th-century Arab poet Abu Firas al-Hamdani. From the author’s selected works Mashyatu al-Auza (Walk of the Goose), Arab Scientific Publishers, Beirut, and Dar Masma, Kuwait, 2009. BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 9

Page Text

View plaintext

SAADIAH MUFARREH

without giving prior thought to the rest of the day.

15 I want a new temptation only for a few days.

16 I want a black and white film whose heroine I can sing along with; I imagine myself in her tight pullover and flowing skirt, wipe away my tears, and laugh at her naïveté, until I justify all of the naiveties of my past.

17 I want a soft song for a sleepless night.

18 I want a long, full day, with the smell of the sand and sea, car exhaust, and fewer missed calls on my cell phone.

19 I want a very short day, enough for writing a poem, composed as I desire, leisurely, unadorned, and without a draft.

20 I want a short night framed in tranquility, ending with a death

8 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content