Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Pizza, Pasta, poetry and editing.



Pizza, Pasta, poetry and
Editing.
Just few words that describe the range of talent I possesses. The writer of several unpublished poems that, talks about Love and the editor of a blog you need to check out (if you haven’t):

مصر بعد النظام الفاشل " Egypt post the failing system "


STATS
last book you read: Just reread

The Muqaddimah/Ibn Khaldun


favorite city: San Francisco/Paris/Cairo
favorite candy: Egyptian Boureak " Bread stuffed with date "
1.What compelled you to commit to writing as your craft?
I think it was a Creative Writing elective class I took one summer at Belmont university a hundred years ago. I wanted to major in English Literature.
2. What moved you to start the literary Blog

مصر بعد النظام الفاشل

And what has been the most rewarding aspect of running it?
The idea of my blog began when I was still in the united states , writing, and submitting my work to the school, and for some short time, working with the Egyptian revolution
Somewhere along the publishing path, I looked for myself and did not find myself; an Anglophone Arab writer. I found amazing opportunity to publish and translations of Arabic literature, or strictly Arab American literature, or journals that were Arab-city-eccentric. I am supposed to be Arab-American but still, I yearned for something else, something more inclusive, something not linked only to the US. So, I thought, let’s do this. And when I felt ready, years later, I did.

3.Word on the street is you’ve been making pizza and pasta…tell us
more about that. Does it help with your creative process? If not, just tell us how good it is in a poem. Pasta is just A kind of fast food . A poem ? …Let’s see.  But before I write the poem, I’m going to get some
Water boil in a large pot for the pasta. I can only write poem when a major change in my feeling takes a place. when just words won't deliver my message I resort into poem to express myself and to vent out my feelings.

4. Who am I ? All the poem is built on real stories. So there’s the ethical question of “who l am I to tell these stories if they’re not my stories?” and yet, what happens if I don't tell them? What happens if I remain silent? What do I do with the privilege of having pen, paper or a microphone?
Salem Elkhatib

I Live .. in Your Eyes ( poem )

I Live .. in I Live .. in Your Eyes ..

قالت: حبيبي .. سوف تنساني She said: My Love .. You will forget me وتنسى أنني يوما And you will forget that I, one day, وهبتك نبض وجداني Have granted you my heart وتعشق موجة أخرى And you will adore another wave وتهجر دفء شطآني And you will leave my beaches warmth وتجلس مثلما كنا And you will sit, as we used to لتسمع بعض ألحاني To listen to some of my tones ولا تعنيك أحزاني And you will not care for my sorrows ويسقط كالمُنى اسمي And my name will fall as hope وسوف يتوه عنواني And my address will get lost ترى.. ستقول يا عمري So, my Love, will you say بأنك كنت تهواني؟! That you (once) loved me!? * * * فقلت: هواك إيماني So, I said: Your love is my faith ومغفرتي.. وعصياني My forgiveness and my disobedience أتيتك والمنى عندي I met you with hope بقايا بين أحضاني Remaining in my arms ربيع مات طائره Like spring without birds !! على أنقاض بستان On the ruins of a garden, رياح الحزن تعصرني The winds of sadness squeeze me وتسخر بين وجداني And laugh in my chest. أحبك واحة هدأت I Love You .. like an oasis عليها كل أحزاني in which all my sorrows have calmed down أحبك نسمة تروي I Love You, like an aura that tells لصمت الناس.. ألحاني My songs to people’s silence أحبك نشوة تسري I Love You .. like ecstasy that runs وتشعل نار بركاني And fires my volcano. أحبك أنت يا أملا I Love You .. you, Hope كضوء الصبح يلقاني That like morning light meets me. أمات الحب عشاقا Love has killed many lovers, وحبك أنت أحياني And your love has given life to me. ولو خيرت في وطن And if I were to choose a home, لقلت هواك أوطاني I would say; my home is your Love. ولو أنساك يا عمري And if I were to forget you, حنايا القلب.. تنساني My heart would forget me. إذا ما ضعت في درب If I lost my way, ففي عينيك.. عنواني I would live .. in your eyes.

Salem Elkhatib