The Ofi Press Magazine

Poem by Saghir Oulad Ahmed (Tunisia), Published in Issue 28. Translated from Arabic by Ali Znaidi (Tunisia).

Poem originally published in Arabic in http://www.doroob.com/

This is Me

This is me..

I thought of a people that says, Yes & No.

I adjusted what I had thought of because – simply – I

adjusted what I had thought of.

I thought of a people that says, Yes to No.

I thought of the number of victims, orphans, and widows,

& thieves.

I thought of letters fleeting from the texts.

I thought of a people/ women & men/ camels & dogs

leaving their land.

I thought of that orphan – in the government –

She was solely importing clapping

from a soprano’s concert that is singing to the gazelle,

justice, & the Christ.

I thought of an eloquent silence.

Life has gone as it has gone.

Life has gone in rushing, & in vain.

I will say a poem to Al-Asha al Kabir in the bar,

if wine runs out & the cock and the crow of the city

cry in its night:

“– O, folks!

There is no tomorrow – after now – over there.”