The City Ravaged by Silence

Baghdad, that captive, forgotten
Between the corpse and the nail.

Baghdad was not besieged by the Persian army
Not seduced by a mare
Nor tempted by a hurricane nor touched by fire.

Baghdad died of a wound from within
From a blind silence that paralyzed the tongues of its children

That captive was not a homeland
It was just a prison
Wrapped with black walls and guardrails
It was not a night beyond which we say day lies
Baghdad, that captive, forgotten
And ravaged by the silence
Only a desert inhabited by death
Known only to the stones.

One day it almost became... at a certain time
A thing in secret
A secret restlessness in the stillness of a room
It almost became a promise in two eyes
A vow in blue films
In which we almost lived a dream
Paper boats borne by the air, flowing
Lightly, seeking no anchor,
No mooring on a bank.
We wished it would turn into lightning, revealing desire
But...

— Listen... listen
And so I listened, and listened closely
But I heard nothing
— Listen... listen.

And I laughed... Here’s the meow of the cat in the neighbor’s house
There... A rustle of small leaves
Pay no attention... It’s only the meow of the cat
Only the rustle of the trees.

A hand knocks on the door four times
The anxious heart pounds a thousand times
— Listen... Don’t you hear? Don’t you see something...?
I see a shadow lurking behind the window
I can almost see in the dark of its eyes... yes
In the darkness of its eyes... yes... my tear-streaked face
For tomorrow the report will be prepared
The grounds will be prepared for killing you inside us, with us, Oh Baghdad
We must confess, we’re the corpse and the nail
And you, forgotten between the corpse and the nail.

— You were awake until the wee hours
— We were awake until the wee hours... but we
— What does it mean...? What does it imply...?
On the chair with two broken legs
Above the black table
Near the flickering lantern
There were white papers, yellow papers like pus
There was an open book
Like an exposed secret
And the remains of two pens
What does it mean that you read... that you write
That you stay up until dawn
What does it mean...? What does it imply...?

We will be executed in Baghdad’s main square
With a signboard larger than Baghdad on both of our chests
(Understand... you may not be executed.... understand... you may be spared)
You are forbidden to read... to write
To talk... to cry... even to ask
What Baghdad means
What it means to be human or an animal
To be more than a stone forgotten in Baghdad
You are forbidden to be more than the two legs of a harlot
Or the two hands of a pimp.

Baghdad died of a wound inside us... of a wound from within
From a blind silence that paralyzed the tongues of its children
Baghdad was ravaged by the silence
So that we have nothing in it, it has nothing in us... except death
And the corpse and the nail.

translated by Hussein Kadhim and Christopher Merrill