Saadi Yousef

Posted in Past Guests  |  Tagged T-Z

Saadi Yousef was born near Basra, Iraq, in 1934. He has published poetry, short stories, two novels, several essays, and four volumes of his collected works, including Without an Alphabet, Without a Face, which won the 2003 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

Woman

How will I drag my feet to her now?
In which land will I see her
and on which street of what city
should I ask about her?
And if I find her house
(let’s suppose I do)
will I ring the bell?
How should I answer back?
And how will I stare at her face
as I touch the light wine
seeping between her fingers.
How should I say hello…
and how will I take the pain of all these years?
Once
twenty years ago
in an air-conditioned train
I kissed her all night through…

Links

• Interview with Jonathan Maunder. Socialist Worker. 26 August 2006.
• “Tonight We Rest Here,” Interview with Joy Stocke. Tree of Life Review.

Media

CRY HAVOC! Poetry of War and Remembrance 1968-2008 | March 31, 2009
Sorrows of Baghdad: Poetry of the Shattered Home and the Troubled Soldier