Moon Beneath the Rubble by Weam Abo Shady, Egypt
I know her by her hair
And like you
I also know her from her poetry
By the scent of homes
Prophetic in her rhymes.
I’ve known her since she kneaded patience
With her full stalk of wheat
Sprinkling time over her thyme
Cooking breakfast for her little ones
Never knowing
In which bite she hid her heart
Or in which poem
She buried her absence.
I know her from her lover’s kiss
Before thirst was born in her battalions
Before the whole world turned against her.
Oh, my dear
Lands of poetry
Will not die
A moon beneath the rubble doesn’t die
Resurrection doesn’t die, my dear
All wounds remember
And a wounded apple doesn’t lie.
I, too, know her
How her “No” walked
Between blood and siege
How one language grew after another
How ruin borrowed
Every tree from her mouth.
Don’t be afraid
They’ll find her face on
Dinars, dirhams, shekels, and dollars
Her songs will take the shape of festivals
The shape of God’s words in the Torah.
With all her basil
She hangs journeys between grammar and nomads
Snatches her paradise from every deal
No one cooks a homeland, my flower
For mirrors are pregnant with light and rivers.
Bullets don’t change the shape of the earth
Just as God hasn’t changed His address in all the news.
Don’t be afraid… If you know her by her hair
Then before you, the angels never knew their own blasphemy
Yet they found their way to seventy heavens in her hair.
Weam Abo Shady
Weam Abo Shady is an Egyptian journalist and poet, born in Cairo. She has published two poetry collections: “No One Passed by Here” and “An Offering Unaccepted by the Lord.” She is also a novelist, having published two novels: “The Soul’s Longing” and “It Was Me,” as well as a short story collection: “The File Was Closed at Its Appointed Time and Date.”
Translated into Arabic by Dr.Salwa Gouda
Dr Salwa Gouda is an accomplished Egyptian literary translator, critic, and academic affiliated with the English Language and Literature Department at Ain Shams University. Holding a PhD in English literature and criticism, Dr. Gouda pursued her education at both Ain Shams University and California State University, San Bernardino. She has authored several academic works, including Lectures in English Poetry and Introduction to Modern Literary Criticism, among others. Dr. Gouda also played a significant role in translating The Arab Encyclopedia for Pioneers, a comprehensive project featuring poets, philosophers, historians, and literary figures, conducted under the auspices of UNESCO. Recently, her poetry translations have been featured in a poetry anthology published by Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Her work has also appeared in numerous international literary magazines, further solidifying her contributions to the field of literary translation and criticism.
