Fellah

A peasant...
the son of a peasant:
there lies within me
a mother's sincerity
and a fishmomger's guile.
I will not stop
grinding
so long as in
my handmill's throat
a pinch of grain remains -
and I'll plow on
while the sack still holds
seeds my hand might sow.

Taha Muhammad Ali, So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971 - 2005, Cole et alii (trad.), Copper Canyon Press, 2006.

Twigs

(3)
My poem
goes beyond poetry
because you
exist
beyond the realm of women.

Taha Muhammad Ali, So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971 - 2005, Cole et alii (trad.), Copper Canyon Press, 2006.

Warning

Lovers of hunting
and beginners seeking your prey:
Don't aim your rifles
at my happiness,
which isn't worth
the price of the bullet
(you'd waste on it).
What seems to you
so nimble and fine,
like a fawn,
and flees
every which way,
like a partridge,
isn't happiness.
Trust me:
my happiness bears
no relation to happiness.

Taha Muhammad Ali, So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971 - 2005, Cole et alii (trad.), Copper Canyon Press, 2006.