Poems
Song
by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Facing down wind in a dust-storm
wrapped up in his cloak
and wearing a hat that can’t make him vanish —
this skinny man
scans the horizon
gathering — but not quite yet — flowers
until the moment you meet
(… but stuck in this narrow alleyway
among mountains of rubbish
he longs to lift up his beak
unfurl his wings
and take flight…)
Notes
The main thing I need to tell you about this song is that it is a love poem (forgive me if I am stating the obvious!). Like in his previous poem Saddiq uses a scene to convey his idea: sad and frustrated by lack of magic powers and engulfed in dust this thin man is singing this song to his lover.… The last bracketed part stands for his determination to strive (to meet his lover?) despite everything… and I think it will be great if we could make the last line about wings much more beautiful or make the idea of him flying clearer....
The original version of this poem is written in Arabic. The literal translation of this poem was made by Hafiz Kheir. The final translated version of the poem is by Sarah Maguire.
Other poems by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi that we have helped to translate are Poem of the Nile, Dream, Weaving a World, A Monkey at the Window, Breathless, Small Fox, In the Company of Michelangelo, Garden Statues, Everything and Horizon.
You can find out more about the translation process on this website. You can also add your own comments on this poem here.
We have media featuring the poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi. Additionally there are details available about New recordings and photographs from the 2008 World Poets' Tour , another one of our events that Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi was involved in.
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