Saturday 8 February 2014

Lebanon - Khalil Hawi

This was probably the last poem written by Khalil Hawi (1919-1982).*


لبنان


كنا جداراً يلتقي جدار
ما اُوجع الحوار
ما اُوجع القطيعه
تغصُّ بالفجيعه
ما اُوجع الحوار


We were walls facing walls
It was painful to talk
It was painful to feel the distance
Choked by the tragedy
It was painful to talk


(Trans. Abdullah al-Udhari)


Read about Khalil Hawi here
More of his poetry here and here

*So says Ammiel Alcalay in 'After Jews and Arabs: Remaking Levantine Culture'.