The World By Muniam Alfaker Poem by WorldPoetry USNB

The World

This is not a world
But a wisp of countries
This is not a humanity
But a handful of communities
This is not a homeland
But particles of dust
This is not a human being
But drops of blood
These are not alive people
But they are not dead
This is not a sea
But a cemetery of blood
Even you
Aren't you
The world is my home
Iraq is my room

…….
To build a home

One day I shall
Take a bit of sand,
Take a few herbs.
Take a little water
And thousands of kilometres of barbed wire.
This is how I shall make myself a home.
Shall i call it "Iraq"?


Soldier

He was not so soft
That he could be bended,
He was not so tough
That he could be broken.
He floated around
In his empty loneliness.
During his first leave
He came home by bus.
On his third leave
He came in a box.

...

You cannot make
My mouth into
A prison cell,
Where my tongue
Is locked up
For a lifetime
……


The pain

If the pain had been
white
we would have painted the houses
and decorated the rooms
with the pain
but as the pain is black
we hid it
in the innermost drawer
of the heart.



A family

In the morning:
a cop of coffee
between cheese and olive.
The breakfast table grew bigger
with their hands,
when Father was about to leave
the boy asked for chocolate,
mother asked for a kiss,
father said " I ‘ll be back this evening"

In the evening:
the boy is out on the balcony
mother is in the kitchen,
father is in the mortuary.


Waiting

When he had waited
one hour, two hours
and she had not come
he gently laid his cheek
against the bench and said:
"Bench! can we meet again tomorrow
same place? "

....
unknown seamen
the Earth was pregnant with me
then
it released me
on to the scream
the scream
is the echo
of lust
I am are star
that became lost.
the Earth housed me
and
wrapped me in rags.
I am
a trace
on water.
I who am I…
some pieces of a body
in trousers.
I don't even know
how I've become
or who called me
"some pieces".
I would wish
that the lust, I, the world
were of glass.
the world:
one half is a tragedy
the other a comedy
that bribes
the pain with laughter.
………
every night
you and I
undress
and jump into the ocean of sleep
swim
dive
but when the death of drowning threatens
we each make up our
…….
the wind is your messenger
I've opened
my doors
and windows
to it
receive it
with great joy
with a scent
the wind
told
of you
…..
how it happened
I don't know
last night
I saw a woman
ascend from you
and from me
a man
before our eyes
they embraced each other …
…..
I create cities
and imagine myself inhabitants
create streets
and their people
create masses
and show them contempt
create soil
and
then pull it rapidly
away beneath the feet
create hatred
and
then claim love
create grief
and
then assert love
create death
and
then deny life
create soul
to rebel against it
with the body
create sinners
and
then claim forgiveness
create sun
and
then object against it
with the shadow.

…..
tomorrow
everything will be ready
I will wake up early
pack my scattered memories
into the memory's suitcase
wash away my features
and sneak myself
through
the fences of my life.

…..


Bio：

Muniam Alfaker, Poet and writer. Lives in Denmark. Fled because of the dictatorship in Iraq, first to Morocco, later to Lebanon. Moved to Damascus in 1982, where the first collection of his poems ("Far away from them")was published. Came to Denmark in 1986 as a refugee and published his first collection of poems in Danish ("A cloud on the travel ")in 1988. He published more than 50 poetry books in Denmark, Norway, India, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, France, Bosnian-Hercegovina and Morocco.
He received several literary prizes, for instance The Danish Library Association's literary prize (Writer's Award)in 1995, Danish Help for Refugee's artist of honour in 2003, Prize for peace and understanding between people (Danish writer association)and the Iraqi Culture Award. Iraqi (Ministry of Culture in Iraq)
His poems have been translated into Danish (seven poetry books) , Norwegian, French, Spanish, English, German, Macedonian, Estonian, Malaysian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Urdu, Bengali India, Chinese in Taiwan and China, Dutch, Kurdish and Persian. A selection of his poems and his biography in the most important international encyclopedias.