September 02, 2008
Tuesday Poem
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To An Iraqi Infant
Sinan Antoon
do you know
that your mother's nipples
are dry bones?
that her breasts
are bursting
with depleted uranium?
do you know
that the womb's window
overlooks
a confiscated land?
do you know
that your tomorrow
has no tomorrow?
that your blood
is the ink
of new maps?
do you know
that your mother is weaving
the slowness of her moments
into an elegy?
And she is already
mourning you?
don't be shy!
your funeral is over
the tears are dry
everyone's gone
come forward!
it's only a short way
don't be late
your grave is looking
at its watch!
don't be afraid!
We'll arrange your bones
which ever way you want
and leave your skull
like a flower
on top
come forward!
your many friends await
there are more every day
. . .
your ghosts
will play together
come on!
New York, December 2002
Translated by the poet
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Posted by Jim Culleny at 08:05 AM | Permalink
Comments
Great poem Jim, great choice.
Is it fair to dedicate it to the architects of mayhem in Iraq?
You can find them huddled together under the carpets at the Oval Office dreaming of oil, money and blood.
Posted by: Felix E F Larocca MD | Sep 2, 2008 8:24:40 AM
3Quarks is my first read every day. You do what the best newspapers and magazines of the past hoped to do -- you provide a wide-lens view of the world in its mystery and magnificence and even misery. It's difficult to comment here, because many of your offerings are so like paintings in a museum, and I don't post comments there, either.
But this poem is exquisite and shattering in its horror, its beauty, its clarity, its truth, its misery, and its humanity -- and it demands gratitude.
I know the writer of this poem did not want to write it and hates to be thanked for it, and would give anything to have a different world and a blank page on which to write something else. But this is the world we have made, and the writer of this poem deserves our deepest appreciation for showing us what we have done with our empty hearts and fearful dreams.
I hate that my apology for my part in this is so small and useless, that my country and my neighbors did this. That I did this.
Posted by: ehj2 | Sep 2, 2008 8:57:04 AM
ehj2-
Many American feel this way. Sadly at least half of us do not (polls).
Fear is an awful master. History is often on its side.
Thanks for your comments —though wouldn't it be miraculous if they and this poem weren't necessary?
Posted by: Jim | Sep 2, 2008 9:37:12 AM
translated from "the Iraqi?"
Posted by: seth edenbaum | Sep 2, 2008 12:45:22 PM
Seth,
Kudos to your eye.
Jim
Posted by: Jim | Sep 2, 2008 12:57:06 PM
i too click on 3quarks as my first daily read, especially for the poem of the day. a ? wud it be possible to have then in there own archive?
keep on keeping 'em coming
jim
Posted by: jim sharp | Sep 3, 2008 2:55:50 AM
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