So, I’ve decided to share a little bit of art. I’ve realized that I have nothing about Obama in here, and to my great love for Arabic poetry, I’ve decided to combine both in this post. It’s a bit late, I’m sorry. It should’ve been posted right after the elections… but ah well, better late than never.
You know my favorite poet of all times and pray to God my husband in heaven; Ahmad Matar. This is a poem he wrote, speaking in it through Obama’s tongue; one of his most recent. This is the translated English version, but if you can, then I highly recommend the Arabic version. It just has its own kind of magic to it, even though the English one is not bad.
Here it goes, From Obama, by the one and only, Ahmad Matar:
From Obama…
To all Arab peoples and rulers:
Your pot banging at my door
Has exhausted me and driven me mad…
“Do this, o Obama…
Leave this, o Obama
Rain upon us cold and peace
O Obama.
Save a belt for the naked!
O Obama.
Find a bowl for the bath!
O Obama.
Tailor pajamas for the ant!
O Obama…”
A clanging that chews on dreams
And its echo vomits illusions
No sooner does the voracity of the noise
Begin to subside than it begins to grow again.
And I am a man with lots to do
More than the time you have for idleness
Longer than the reign of your majesty
So, let me begin by warning you
In order to have my excuse at the end:
I do not serve her who gave birth to you
To be whipped back and forth.
I am not your brother to be defamed
If I do not bring siblings together.
I am not your father to be implored
To be a guardian for you.
Your Arabism has not chosen me
Neither have I chosen Islam!
So, let someone else adopt you
Or remain forever orphans!
I am the proverb of a people
Who refuses to be ruled by force…
Of a system that respects the people.
And it is to them and to no one else
That my heart will flow in sweet melody
Even should my songs descend
Upon your ears… in explosions!
So take heed… As regimes and peoples
And take my example as inspiration.
But if you wish to remain
Like cattle in this world
Begging for security and food
Let me be honest with you… I am a man
Who through all the stages of his life
Not once has counted on
One day herding sheep!
Yep, the Arabic version is waaaay better.
Revolution.
**I miss Ahmad Matar’s poetry so much. I just felt like expressing a thought about something other than the theme for once.
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