Introduction to Arabic Poetry: Poet Nizar Qabbani
VIDEO PRODUCTION AND PHOTO BY ZAHER AL ZAHER
POEM RECITED BY ZAHER AL ZAHER
ARTICLE TEXT BY HEATHER M. SURLS
Today’s poem, recited by Syrian photojournalist Zaher Al Zaher, tells of a man’s love for a beautiful woman who is blind. After insisting that she cannot marry without her sight, the man says he will find someone to donate a pair of eyes for her. Then, when she wakes up able to see, the woman realizes her lover is himself blind and refuses to marry him. Saddened, he releases her with a parting request: that she promise to care for his eyes.
Subway Poem 1
TEXT, POEM, AND IMAGES BY JANE POTTHAST
For a long time, I worked somewhere different each day. I spent long hours on the subway, commuting from location to location. Collecting one lonely descent after the other, hours spent zoning in and out of the rhythmic haul of the trains, I started to feel like I occupied two worlds, spending half my time in the one belowground. Finding myself stuck in this closed circuit of city gears, I had nothing else to do but notice the strange aesthetics of this underworld. .
La Luna
POEM BY E. AMATO
TRANSLATED TO GERMAN BY ZISKA KILLAT
IMAGE BY JOANNA WINOGRAD.
E. Amato once overheard two people conversing in Spanish on the Tube in London, and the musical quality of their exchange captured her attention. So she listened in, though she is not a Spanish speaker.
Strongbox: A Poem
POEM BY NICHOLE CHRISTIAN
PHOTO BY KELLY CRAIG
Fielding Flower: A Poem
POEM AND IMAGES BY LORI LANDAU
Souiri Children / Les Enfants Souiri
POEM BY E. AMATO
TRANSLATED TO FRENCH BY CATHERINE S. WEBSTER
IMAGES BY JOANNA WINOGRAD.
A poem by E. Amato from her book Will Travel. Inspiration found in Essaouira, Morocco.
Clarity: A Poem
POEM BY BRIT WASHBURN
PHOTO BY MANUELA THAMES