lantern
underneath the veil rests a head
lap of the air—the earth
a bulge rises from the chest
two hands dispel the poisons of the night
pain
two feet pressed one
against the other
distancing themselves from the noise that still corrupts the place
soon they will carry the corpse
to the place where the prayers for the dead
repeat
to the cemetery
in a corner of rushed graves
there
as it is lowered into nothingness
everything makes audible repeating strokes
even silence
a woman
facing her death
sways the lantern
disappearance
the first step begins where you are now
full of doubt you constantly stare
a dizziness
in time you will seek out its source
words are your nourishment
this road you only see as darkness
within darkness
a friend was here then disappeared
not every goodbye can be goodbye
a hand
between the rocks points out the road
within the road
a blue hand
it is the one
that branched out of your roots
a sound that flows through
a rocky surface that speaks
the chant is not over
yet
a desert approaches with the road towards you
a desert of words
a storm
gathers in the shape of a person you thought
resembled you
but the chant grows louder
out of a hand searching for you amongst the birds
a blue hand in
your hand
the language of the road
from Seven Birds
Mohammed Bennis
translated from the Arabic by Nashwa Gowanlock
Listen to "Lantern" read in the original Arabic by Yasmine Seale:
If translation is the process or act of transferring or transforming meaning into another language, then at its most elementary level, the activation of our senses is an act of translation as the brain translates sensory stimuli into recognizable feelings. Thought itself becomes an act of translation as the brain interprets signals into language.
Translating Mohamed Bennis' poems was a return to the purest form of language, and an invitation to participate in the unique, sensory, mystical and transformative action of translating the world and crafting it anew. The result, each time, was a poem that owes everything to its original being, speaks in the same tone, and remains as close to its essence as a bud to its morning dew.
Translating Mohamed Bennis' poems was a return to the purest form of language, and an invitation to participate in the unique, sensory, mystical and transformative action of translating the world and crafting it anew. The result, each time, was a poem that owes everything to its original being, speaks in the same tone, and remains as close to its essence as a bud to its morning dew.
Mohammed Bennis is a Moroccan poet, among the most important voices in Arab literature. He was born in 1948 in Fez, Morocco. He is also the translator into Arabic of Stéphane Mallarmé, Georges Bataille, and Bernard Noël. In 1974, he founded the magazine Al Thaqâfa Al Jadida ("The New Culture"), which played an active role in the cultural life of Morocco until it was closed down in 1984. In 1985, together with university professors and writers, he established the publishing house Dar Toubkal. He was the driving force behind the funding of The House of Poetry in Morocco in 1996 and was its president from 1996 to 2003. He has published fourteen poetry collections and more than 30 titles of poetry, prose, essays, and translations. He has received several awards in Europe and the Middle East. His poetry has been translated into numerous languages, including French, German, Spanish, English, Swedish, Italian, Turkish, and Japanese.
Nashwa Gowanlock is an Editor-at-large at Asymptote. She is an Egyptian poet, translator and journalist currently working towards an MFA in Writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her translations of the poems by Moroccan poet, Mohammed Bennis, were produced as part of her graduate thesis. The selected poems are from one of Bennis's most recent collections, Seven Birds.
