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Kabul by Latif Pedram


  • cvillelisa
    Aug 23 8:01 PM
    Reply













    Kabul

    Of something that is like the wind,
    Of something that is like the sea,
    Of something that is like the moon,
    Of something that is like bread,
    of the thirst of a poem sad and alive
    I must write.

    The crash of thousands explosions
    - throughout the day,
    through the night -
    Of the outstretched hand of thousands of beggars
    in the wounded streets
    of this new city -
    I must write.

    Of the impatient laments of the rain
    Of the death of nature,
    Of the death of joy,
    Of drinking throughout the night
    Of the dark cuts of sadness,
    The machine guns, the bombs and the blood,
    I must write.

    So many wind,
    burnt faces by the sun,
    So many men dishonoured, desperate
    Who come home with bundles of hunger,
    With a burden of scars,
    Of something which is like tears,
    Of something which is like blood,
    Of something which is like Kabul
    I must write.

  • just mercedes
    August 29 ↑
    Reply
    This is great to read - it's so good to know that there are Afghanis opposed to Islamic fundamentalism, and their leader is a man of literature - surely it is their own culture that can help them here.

    I like the poem, the spirit I see behind the pain.

    • cvillelisa
      August 29 ↑
      Reply

      Oh thanks for reading it! I find that I *hear* a song sung when I read this poem. A lonely but hopeful song.

      I would love to hear it in his native language. Certainly some good poets have come from Persia -- Hafiz is a favorite of mine.
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