Sargon Boulus: Two Poems

New Article Submission

Thank you for your interest in Jadaliyya. We welcome all submissions. The most significant requirement is for Jadaliyya submissions to be analytically compelling and offer a perspective or argument that has not been covered at length either on Jadaliyya or elsewhere. Because of the volume of submissions, well-written pieces are prioritized. Length is flexible, 1000 to 2500 words is the average range. However, we will accept longer pieces. Once submitted, several members of the editorial committee will review your piece and one of them will inform you of the decision.
Author Details
Article Details
Select Countries
Select Keywords
Select Topics
Only RTF, Word, and Pages documents accepted.

Recommended image size: 762x800 px

Location of each image should be indicated in the text of the article via a square bracket caption that includes: (1) a description of the image; (2) the photographer/designer and source of the image. Please note we only use images you as the author have the right to use, which usually means those of your own creation or those published under Creative Commons. Alternatively, you need specific permission from the copyright holder.
Please read the Release Form and provide an electronic signature [your full name] below to confirm that you accept its terms
Required
Hyperlink words in your article if they refer to links on the internet. We encourage more, rather than less, links (try to avoid footnotes—embed them as hyperlinks if possible)

Article added successfully.

Pages Menu BETA
Oct 22, 2013 Iraq
[Art by Kareem Risan (Iraq)] [Art by Kareem Risan (Iraq)]

Sargon Boulus: Two Poems

By : Sinan Antoon سنان انطون

 

Two Poems

Sargon Boulus

Translated by Sinan Antoon

Times

(The song of a Sumerian who lived for a thousand years)

Before, times like these
have come before
Times when we witnessed
hurricanes that never stopped
uprooting trees:
alluvium gushing forth and mud
swept away to the end of the horizon
covering traces

We have known days like these
When every day comes to enter the eyes
with a strange sun
That is if it comes at all. . .

When we used to hope, the last time
lightening wrote our names
on the tablets of fate, to scatter a handful of dust
on the face of the dead
at the end of the journey
We thought that we had learned
how to travel the road
to the gods’ gate

How to carry the burden
and rise up again after the flood

How to go, again
If days come when we see hurricanes
that never stop uprooting trees

When alluvium is gushing forth and mud
is swept to the end of the horizon
covering traces 

A Pebble

The day after the flood
A stagnant morning
There is a tear at the bottom of the world
Frozen like an orphan pebble

The hurricane obliterates everything
Palmtrees, houses, boats, bicycles and minarets
But this pebble stays

right there, shining faintly
Because the hand of eternity
Has polished its bald head just like the Lord’s shoeshine:

There it is under your foot. Step on it if you wish. Step hard

Then cross over. Fear not
Among pebbles, it is no more than
a pebble.

[Sargon Boulus died in Berlin October 22, 2007. Translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon. From Sargon Boulus, `Azma Ukhra li-Kalb al-Qabila (Beirut/Baghdad: Dar al-Jamal, 2008)]
Tags

  • ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR

    • استقالة نعمت شفيق: الجامعات الأمريكية والاستثمار في الإبادة

      استقالة نعمت شفيق: الجامعات الأمريكية والاستثمار في الإبادة

      ترى هل تعد حرب الإبادة الشاملة التي تشنّها إسرائيل ضد الفلسطينيين في غزّة، من بين أكثر مشاكل العالم تعقيداً بنظر من يحتلّون مناصبهم في مجالس أمناء الجامعات المرموقة، والرؤساء الذين واللواتي يقع اختيارهم عليهم، وعليهن؟ وما الدور الذي لعبته جامعة كولومبيا ورئيستها في التعامل مع مشكلة بالغة التعقيد كهذه؟

    • نتنياهو والتصفيق للبربرية

      نتنياهو والتصفيق للبربرية

      حَفِل الخطاب، كما هي عادة نتنياهو، بالأكاذيب الغوبلزيّة (نسبة إلى جوزف غوبلز، وزير دعاية هتلر)، والسُعار وتأجيج العصبيات العنصريّة.

    • إنكار العنف السياسي في أمريكا

      إنكار العنف السياسي في أمريكا

      «لا مكان للعنف السياسي في بلادنا» هذه هي الجملة التي ردّدها، أو ردّد تنويعات عليها، عشرات السياسيين والمعلّقين الأمريكيين في الساعات والأيام التي أعقبت قيام شاب أمريكي بمحاولة فاشلة لاغتيال الرئيس السابق والمرشح الجمهوري دونالد ترامب.
Oct 1, 2013 Lebanon
Medrar TV مدرار تي في By :
Medrar TV مدرار تي في

A Scenography Workshop by Hussein Baydoun

A Scenography workshop by Hussein Baydoun

8-16 September 2013

Falaki Theater, Cairo, Egypt

 

Hussein Baydoun is a Lebanese artist, architect, and scenographer who is known for his unique approach to set design. Baydoun frequently participates in the creation and development of performances from their early stages with the view that scenography is an essential component to the creation of theatrical work, one no less important than the script. His designs are often inspired by the performance spaces in which he works, where he creates fascinating sets from whatever is available as he challenges conventional notions about theater production, such as in his most recent performance "Alice," which was produced in collaboration with Lebanese playwright and director Sawsan Bou Khaled. In September, Baydoun returned to Cairo to lead a scenography workshop following the same vision. At the American University in Cairo`s Falaki Theater, he worked with six upcoming set designers, in addition to amateurs, on creating imaginative environments from the remnants of old sets and other discarded objects. This video highlights the vision and development of the workshop as Baydoun describes the aim of his teaching methods.  


 

      

     [This video is produced by Medrar TV and is featured as part of a new partnership with Jadaliyya Culture.]