Ali Al-Shalah [Iraq]

 

A Kiss
 
Do not reduce love to a stolen, yearning kiss,
or to a bed trembling with desire.
Do not reduce femininity
to a single smile.
Love that melts into sighs
is not love…
Be the roar of the wind,
and kiss the whole world.
 
 
 
Life
 
The sun climbs toward its own dawn,
clerks drift back to their offices,
children to the warm echo of their schools,
mothers to the cradle’s breath,
vendors to the hum of their stalls,
dogs to the quiet corners of their homes,
cats to the soft gardens they claim,
and lovers to the fields of their longing.
 
Everything returns to where it belongs.
Did I not whisper once… that my death would change nothing?
Why, then—
why did I die?
 
 
 
You Are Not the World
 
You are not the whole world
for me to write that you are the whole world.
 
You are not the world,
nor half of it,
for me to say you are half the world.
 
You are not the world,
not even a quarter of it,
for me to write that you are a quarter of the world.
 
You are not the world,
not even a fifth of it,
for me to say you are a fifth of the world.
 
You are none of these—
not a whole, nor a half, nor a fraction of the world.
 
But I will write that you are the world,
because you are my world within this world.
 
 
The Wilderness Signals to Me
 
I have no sand to open the desert,
Wandering chatters within me and releases me from the sins of time,
People are places fading into others,
And I describe the void with new illusions,
What came in the tablets may come,
And I have recited water for the thirsty,
What came in the tablets may come,
So leave the saying to another memory,
And try to come from question to question.
The jar was empty and anchored near me. 
 
 
 
Author’s Bionote:
 
*Dr. Ali Al-Shalah: Poet, academic, critic, and journalist. Born in Babylon - Al-Hilla on 10 February 1965. He completed his primary and secondary education at Al-Muhaqqiq School, Safi Al-Din Intermediate School, and Al-Hilla Preparatory School. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the College of Arts, Department of Arabic Language, University of Baghdad, in 1987. He left Iraq in 1991. He earned his Master’s degree in Modern Arabic Literature and Criticism from Yarmouk University, Jordan (1992–1995) for his thesis entitled: “Questions of Tragedy: Karbala in Modern Arabic Poetry.” He received his PhD from the Department of Islamic Studies and Orientalism, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Bern, Switzerland, for his dissertation: “The Woman Poet: The Feminist Poem in Modern Arabic Literature.” He founded and managed several Iraqi, Arab, and international cultural institutions. Founder and Director of the Swiss-Arab Cultural Center - Ghazali Earth (1997). Founder of the Mesopotamia Cultural Foundation since 2003, which played a significant role in restoring artworks and cultural properties looted from Iraqi institutions; the foundation was later renamed Babel International Foundation for Cultures and Arts in 2010. President of the International PEN - Iraq Branch (2003–2014). Chairman of the Culture and Media Committee, Iraqi Parliament (2010–2014). Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Iraqi Media Network - ministerial rank (2014–2015). President of the Iraqi Media Network - ministerial rank (2016–2017).