Poem
Wadih Sa’adeh
The Exhausted People
The exhausted people were sitting in the squarelistening to the soft winds which may have been peddlers
or loiterers who had lost their way.
The exhausted people had their own open square
where the paving stones had taken on human qualities;
if one of the people was missing,
they cried out for him.
The exhausted people were in the open square
and their faces grew more brittle each day,
their hair, softer
in the evening’s faint light.
When they glanced at one another, their eyes were brittle
until they thought of themselves as glass
and shattered.
© Translation: 1997, Anne Fairbairn
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia, 1997
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia, 1997
المتعبون
المتعبون
المتعَبون يجلسون في الساحة
ينصتون إلى عبور النسمات، التي كانت في الأرجح بائعين متجوّلين
أو متسكّعين، فقدوا أقدامهم
للمتعبين ساحة
بلاطاتها، مع الأيام، اكتسبت صفات إنسانية
حتى أنها إذا غاب واحدٌ منهم
تبكي.
المتعبون في الساحة، وجوههم ترقُّ يومًا بعد يوم
وشَعرهم يلين
في هواء الليل و الأضواء الخفيفة،
وحين ينظرون إلى بعضهم ترقُّ عيونهم أيضًا
إلى درجة أنهم يظنون أنفسهم زجاجًا
وينكسرون.
أو متسكّعين، فقدوا أقدامهم
للمتعبين ساحة
بلاطاتها، مع الأيام، اكتسبت صفات إنسانية
حتى أنها إذا غاب واحدٌ منهم
تبكي.
المتعبون في الساحة، وجوههم ترقُّ يومًا بعد يوم
وشَعرهم يلين
في هواء الليل و الأضواء الخفيفة،
وحين ينظرون إلى بعضهم ترقُّ عيونهم أيضًا
إلى درجة أنهم يظنون أنفسهم زجاجًا
وينكسرون.
© 1987, Wadih Sa\'adeh
From: مقعد راكب غادر الباص
Publisher: Wadih Sa\'adeh, Beirut
From: مقعد راكب غادر الباص
Publisher: Wadih Sa\'adeh, Beirut
Poems
Poems of Wadih Sa’adeh
Close
The Exhausted People
The exhausted people were sitting in the squarelistening to the soft winds which may have been peddlers
or loiterers who had lost their way.
The exhausted people had their own open square
where the paving stones had taken on human qualities;
if one of the people was missing,
they cried out for him.
The exhausted people were in the open square
and their faces grew more brittle each day,
their hair, softer
in the evening’s faint light.
When they glanced at one another, their eyes were brittle
until they thought of themselves as glass
and shattered.
© 1997, Anne Fairbairn
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: 1997, Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: 1997, Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia
The Exhausted People
The exhausted people were sitting in the squarelistening to the soft winds which may have been peddlers
or loiterers who had lost their way.
The exhausted people had their own open square
where the paving stones had taken on human qualities;
if one of the people was missing,
they cried out for him.
The exhausted people were in the open square
and their faces grew more brittle each day,
their hair, softer
in the evening’s faint light.
When they glanced at one another, their eyes were brittle
until they thought of themselves as glass
and shattered.
© 1997, Anne Fairbairn
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: 1997, Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia
From: A Secret Sky
Publisher: 1997, Ginninderra Press, Charnwood, Australia
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