Sunday, November 21, 2010
In My Spare Time by Fadhil Al-Azzawi
During my long, boring hours of spare time
I sit to play with the earth’s sphere.
I establish countries without police or parties
and I scrap others that no longer attract consumers.
I run roaring rivers through barren deserts
and I create continents and oceans
that I save for the future just in case.
I draw a new coloured map of the nations:
I roll Germany to the Pacific Ocean teeming with whales
and I let the poor refugees
sail pirates’ ships to her coasts
in the fog
dreaming of the promised garden in Bavaria.
I switch England with Afghanistan
so that its youth can smoke hashish for free
provided courtesy of Her Majesty’s government.
I smuggle Kuwait from its fenced and mined borders
to Comoro, the islands
of the moon in its eclipse,
keeping the oil fields intact, of course.
At the same time I transport Baghdad
in the midst of loud drumming
to the islands of Tahiti.
I let Saudi Arabia crouch in its eternal desert
to preserve the purity of her thoroughbred camels.
This is before I surrender America
back to the Indians
just to give history
the justice it has long lacked.
To learn more about Fadhil Al Azzawi and his poetry:
http://iraq.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=424
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am moved beyond words Jodene by the time and love you have put into this. What a loving and proactive way to work through the grief you feel at having your son deployed. Blessings my friend, and thank you for helping the rest of us see through your eyes, and the eyes of those who live this everyday.
ReplyDelete