Nothing Here Is Enough
I need a parrot
identical days
a quantity of needles
and spoiled ink
to make a history.
I need veiled eyelids
black lines
and ruined puppets
to make geography.
I need a sky wider than longing
and water that is not H2O
to make wings.
The days are no longer enough
to distinguish the missing
I no longer see you
because I no longer dream.
I propose a tear to the rain
as if scattering you
in the Dead Sea
and in order to sing you
I need glass to muffle the sound.
Dunya Mihail
trans Liz Winslow
Dunya Mihkail was born in Baghdad in 1965 and fled to the US after
the the Iran-Iraq and the Gulf Wars. From Poetry International.
--
Alison Croggon
Home page
http://www.users.bigpond.com/acroggon/
Masthead
http://au.geocities.com/masthead_2/
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