A H M E D    O M E R   S H E I K H
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A SONG FROM THE COAST

 

Translated by Charles Cantalupo & Ghirmai Negash

Listen closely. Look up.
Do you hallucinate
That the stars are dropping
Out of the pockets of the night

Or that your rage
Upsets the universe?
Thinning like clouds, we age
And die before we see

Beyond the threshold
Contained in stanzas
Of a poem so bold
It reels hearing the hum

Of the gleaming stars
Coursing in its blood.
But if I could see more,
Let it be my country!

Or am I dreaming?
Is it nothing
But wind in a palm tree –
Restless, stirring, wandering

And lost in the wilderness?
Is even the threshold
Of a future for my country
Just another hallucination?

Keep going. Let the rage
Burn through your wounds.
Fight for what you've lost
And find the voice to bring it back.

 

 

 

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