“I guess the breeze your
Soft steps,
And Whisper your yell”,
So explained father
To me, while putting
Me on his lap,
One of Umm Kalthoom’s
Songs, when I was
Only five.
How could he foresee
That I am going to
Be a poet,
I never knew.
I was brought up
To listen to Nagat,
Faizah and the rest of
That great generation
Of singers,
I loved old Iraqi and
Lebanese songs,
Few Syrian and
Northern African Songs.
I was and still fond of only three
Songs from Arabia;
One from the south:
I Follow my Heart:
“Ana Ba’atba’ Galbi”,
“Wardak”,
And “ We differed who loves the other one More”:
“ Ekhtalafna”.
Now days, I am
Open to a new
Experience of
Listening to many of
My Home town songs,
And I like it,
Especially because
Some of them remind me
Of mother and aunt.
We never lose our
Identity however
Far we go.
I still love old English songs:
Such as “Why is my Heart so Light” and
“Those Were the Days my Friend;
They are attached to my adolescence.
Now most my time is
For Qur’an,
Yet I still love songs,
But I try as much as I can
To minimize things that
Attach me to dreams
Otherwise, I will lose myself.
Jeddah,
8 April,2013
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Songs from Arabia brought the dry wind Along with the smell of yam- good work