An old text
An old text
By :
Latifa Harbaoui
Algeria
Translated by :
Hassan Hegazy Hassan
Egypt
///
When I decided to be no one,
a shadow came out of my lame rib,
threatening to be me.
My shadow does not like politics,
but he goes to the ballot box
to electe his old president.
My shadow does not like
the diversity of parties.
It is one only party.
My shadow doesn't like the poetry I write
because I'm on the side of the country,
with those whose homes fell
on their heads in earthquakes,
With those who eat stale bread,
and dip their fingers in hunger,
who do not know "caviar"
and don't eat croissants.
With those who cry stealthily
So that they don't hurt their mothers,
their parents, and the history
of their country.
My shadow doesn't care that wine is sold
in my country for twenty dinars,
and the people get drunk until morning,
and that the youth sing "Way-Way"
and die on the other side of the sea .
My shadow doesn't care
if our children have cancer
from shale gas.
My shadow cares
only about his big funds
in the Swiss Bank.
My shadow doesn't care
about anything ,
because he is nothing.
For me I will always remain
on the side of the country
I abhor and dislike shadow makers.
///
About this poem
The poem is written in Arabic language for the Algerian poet Latifa Harbaoui ,I translated it in English . the form is blank verse . It is a good poem . it discusses the relation between the citizen and the authority in a new idea . Hassan Hegazy /Egypt .
Submitted by Hegazyhhh on December 08, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 21 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | x aax axx xxb xxx xxb xbcxxdxxcebb xefxb Gdx xxx Gff xbe |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,217 |
Words | 275 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 12, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
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"An old text" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/145435/an-old-text>.
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