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Best Poems Written by Nizar Sartawi

Below are the all-time best Nizar Sartawi poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Nizar Sartawi Poem

The Bedouin's Song

I'm just a bedouin: 
I live in a tent - 
Cozy an' fair
Its fabric woven 
From rough goat-hair- 
A shady cover 
In the summer 
A rain-proof shelter 
In the winter 

My possessions: 
A single garment - a loose black robe 
I call a thobe 
A pair of worn out sandals 
A coffee kit 
And other little things 
I put in a sack 
That may not fit 
With countrysiders' appetites 
Or urbanites'

My homeland: 
All this infinite expanse 
Of deep beige sands 

My sole companion: 
A faithful camel 
Who carries me 
And all my stuff 
Together we cross the endless desert 
And when I sing
Some cameleer song
He gets so light 
Out of delight
And makes as if to fly 
Towards the sky

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Between Two Moments

When passion roars 

in our bosoms 

for mounting on horseback 

that breaks through fortresses

or mounting a cloud

to plant in its whiteness

the banners of madness

or ascending a star

to break in its space 

the barriers of silence 

it’s alright to search for a myth 

in whose folds we tuck  

a few details that

make known our presence

that they may 

give a couple of sparks  

or light up a couple of candles 

or add a couple of sentences

to the lines of our life, confined 

between two moments of the spirit’s manifestations  

the moment of its rise 

in a dumbfounded embryonic lump 

and the moment of its convulsion 

in a conquered heartbeat.

(Translated from Arabic)

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I Wanna Be a Gal

When I was green and clean and boy  

I said to mom: 

I wanna be a gal

and mom she asked me what I want 

for she was not sure she heard me right 

I said I wanna be a gal 

a gaal a gaaaal

a beautiful gal 

with tassels fair and fluffy  

hanging freely on my back 

an' big blue eyes 

an' rosy cheeks 

an' golden shoes like Cinderella 

an' marry a prince and be his princess 



an' dad he overheard me whine

an' raised his stick and 

hit 

hit 

hit  

But mom she wasn't gruesome at all  

She only covered my face with spit

Details | Nizar Sartawi Poem

A Punch of Haiku

HAIKU

in the afternoon
his rendezvous with her
and her shadow too
~~~
standing in the park
behind a little cabin
two shadows kissing
~~~
on your way windstorm
bring dust and leaves and paper
and letters for me
~~~
a sudden whirlwind
the poems i wrote outdoors
delivered to heaven
~~~
the almond tree
blossoms falling falling
the child still swinging
~~~
in the olive grove
singing aloud all night long
with the cicadas

Details | Nizar Sartawi Poem

My Shadow

Oh how you tire me out my shadow 
you, a deformed ghost 
of the pain dwelling within my ribs…! 
How you push me to hide in the dark for fear 
Of you…! 

When your gloomy ominous 
attenuated image 
chases me 
or your clumsy shape 
painted on my path 
gets ahead of me  
I feel I’m trotting 
in front of you 
or behind you 
against my will
that you are pricking my neck 
or pulling me from my nose 
And if you beside me walk
I feel you are a monster lying in wait for me 

about 
to 
rise up
on his feet 
like a ghoul, 
and leap 
upon me 
and put me 
to death

All day long I tell  
myself: 
When my hour comes tomorrow 
or after tomorrow 
no doubt the angel of death will come 
for me alone 
and will forget you… 
and you will attend my funeral 
and take part in my burial 

And when I am laid to rest inside the earth  
and all my friends leave 
you’ll linger a while above my grave
to gloat over my misfortune 
and laugh out loud 
then go away  

Who knows whom you will accompany  
after me! 
to whom the bad luck will be passed!  	
a human like me, haunted with his premonitions 
or a ferocious monster…?

(Translated from Arabic by Nizar Sartawi)

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Obstinate Leaves, Haiku

A november storm 
leaves hang on obstinately 
the chagrined autumn

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Mailbox

Mailbox


So every evening 

coming back home 

I take a knowing peek 

inside the old mailbox 


and knowing I know, 

it seems to me,  

the rude bare bottom 

sneers at me

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Onions

her eyes filled with tears 
but she goes on singing 
and cutting onions

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The Hermit

a quirky quiver 

of awkward spasms   

and there I was 

whistling my livid protests 

at a choir of cloaked shadows    

who'd been 

so weirdly 

keen  

on dragging me 

out of 

my soupy sojourn – 

a cozy, warm dwelling 

fit for a hermit 



a mighty ghost grabbed 

me slapped 

me wrapped 

me trapped 

me like a POW 

in a tiny cell  

or was it a cage? 



that was a long, long while ago 



and now here 

i am 

a loner still 

but

a prisoner of peace 

a happy hermit in a happy little hut

Details | Nizar Sartawi Poem

I Googled

I googled peace 

to get the feel of how 

she fared 

and

found her fight her

roughened way into 

men's bosoms and 

fortresses

and shuttle back

and forth 

between heaven 

and 

heavy hearts 

 
* * *

and then…

and then I browsed 

for war 

and with a gaping eye 

I watched 

the endless edging of a khaki  

garb 

and Oh the omnipresence