A review by odalisque
If I Were Another: Poems by Mahmoud Darwish
5.0
12.
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .