Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Translated by William M. Hutchins
A Refugee Laments
What If?
What if Columbus hadn’t discovered America?
I would be playing hide-and-seek with my daughters.
This afternoon we would gather round a tray with cardamom-scented tea
and pastries
As my brother,
Absolutely certain we expect him,
Taps lightly on the door and asks, “Is anyone home?”
We would laugh repeatedly at the jokes my students told at school,
While incense perfumes the room.
If Columbus had not discovered America,
I wouldn’t keep the windows of my apartment closed,
To prevent fumes of opium from the neighbor lady’s pipe
From polluting it.
If he had not discovered it,
I would enjoy the scent of bread baking every morning
And not be obliged to trek through the woods to Walmart
To buy a loaf of bread and some cheese, after
Asking my young son, “Accompany me? Will you?”
He says: “I’m afraid to walk through the forest.”
So, I trudge there alone.
If Columbus had not discovered America,
I would not take two trains and a bus to reach my university
and return the same way.
I would merely board a minibus
That takes me wherever I want.
If Columbus had not discovered America,
I would have slumbered all night long, lulled by the breathing of my children;
I would not have suffered from the insomnia that afflicts me here.
If he had not discovered it,
I would receive my poetry collection a month after it is published,
Rather than waiting an entire year for three copies to arrive in the mail.
If he had not discovered it,
I wouldn’t have spent three days sheltering from Hurricane Sandy
As it tried to rip the roof off my apartment, using all the energy it collected from the
waves and the wind,
While I held the shingles down with my prayers.
And. . . .
My God, when may I rest?
For twenty years I’ve struggled on many fronts,
But no victory’s in sight, not yet.
…………….
I’ve mourned with the dove,
Dogs have chased me,
I’ve expressed a teardrop
And wrapped myself in poems against fear and cold weather.
I’ve suspended my days from hooks of patience
That surely will collapse.
I’ve soaked in the raindrops of renunciation,
Repeatedly swallowed the cup of betrayal,
And . . .
There’s no time for a warrior to relax
Faleeha Hassan
She is a poet, teacher, editor, writer, and playwright born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1967, who now lives in the United States. Faleeha was the first woman to write poetry for children in Iraq. She received her master’s degree in Arabic literature, and has now published 26 books, her poems have been translated into English, Turkmen, Bosnian, Indian, French, Italian, German, Kurdish, Spain, Korean, Greek, Serbia, Albanian, Pakistani, Romanian, Malayalam, Chinese, ODIA, Nepali and Macedonian language. She is the Pulitzer Prize Nomination 2018, PushCaret Prize Nomination 2019.
Member of International Writers and Artists Association.
Winner of the Women of Excellence Inspiration award from SJ magazine 2020,
Winner of the Grand Jury Award (the Sahitto International Award for Literature 2021)
One of the Women of Excellence selection committees 2023
Winner of women the arts award 2023
Member of Whos’ Who in America 2023
SAHITTO AWARD, JUDGING PANEL 2023
Winner of HerStory Award from women’s Federation for world peace new Jersey 2024
Cultural Ambassador – Iraq, USA since 2018
Cultural Ambassador and worldwide literary advisor PEN CRAFT Bangladesh 2024
Honoured to be appointed as a 2024 Peace Ambassador by the Universal Peace Federation
Email: [email protected]
