Arabian Nightmares
Dedicated to the memory of Arab women slaughtered by their fathers and brothers on the "altar" of the so-called "family honor":
Among a few sinners
I was on my tortuous way
To the funeral of a young woman
Murdered on a cloudy midday
In the central square
Of a remote village
So as to discard
The doomed disgrace
She was slaughtered
Like a black sheep
At noontime
Upon her family's carpet of honor
All this due to a fleeting moment
Of her knees' neighing
Not because of her soul's galloping
Suddenly I observed
A tearful piece of paper
Tossed by a stormy wind
Towards the fence
Of our new cemetery
Uttering in cold-blood letters
These wounded words
Brother I swear
My only dirge
Or perhaps my only fault
Was in that I sought expression
Of my own dreams
In all tongues
But you my almighty brother
Your Excellency the great arbiter
Put your tongue
With all due respect
Within my dirge
And its body was silenced
And its soul abandoned
Many thanks to you
Your Excellency
Now you may be proud
Of the whitewashed disgrace
Through the clear deadly liquid
And you may now toast
A turbid cup
God bless you brother
Wherever you go whatever you do
And here for your benefit
Is the new telephone number
Of the new fancy-girl
In our Holy City
Turki Amer
Summer 1995
Written originally in Arabic
Translated to Hebrew and English with the help of
Edna Meller, Gila Uriel and Ada Aharoni
poem by Turki Amer, Copyright © 1995
