Like a dervish
I am flattered by poems, emotions,
spitting the coffee
in the longing coffee.
From the east,
the last gate of escape,
I looked upon us
in the froth....
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People
Raed Al-Jishi
Raed Anis Al-JISHI (poet, translator; Saudi Arabia) has published one novel, seven volumes of poems in Arabic and one, Bleeding Gull: Look, Feel, Fly, in English. Alongside a career as a writer, he teaches high school chemistry in his native city of Qateef. He is a feminist and human rights activist, and works on issues involving children and literacy.
Find Raed's Arabic social media (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook) at rabdaljishi. Below are links to his English accounts.
Author's Gallery:
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In the beginning love was a gift from God. Its law melts as words. Its eve was the tone of the letters. Adam was not there but a sheet containing the fate of all... media_text
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I am gambling in the Beirut night. I need two numbers melded together. I never asked any dice about its color, where it was made, or about its birthday in... media_text
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And I see peasants singing along the milky road alongside a bull that didn’t know what a plow looks like. And beggars, desert sharpeners like a flock of cheating... media_text
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Distances are empty between us. Prayers are love, and when I get drunk by desire I forget from which amulet I wrote myself using its bloody saffron and which I... media_text
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Since the night of shooting stars, the night of travail, the call to prayer calms me. Some people chant, “Hale Loya.” It was the last supper and the birth of a certain death. My... media_text
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My kid is playing nearby and he stuns me, how he chooses my right breast and sucks my age till it swells. I try to surprise him with my left but he squeezes the nipple... media_text
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My body regularly erupts and it hurts when it does but it terrifies me with its painful time delay. My legs don’t tremble my back doesn’t groan, and I don’t distort my... media_text
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I am a Tuareg child. My blue turban drowns me in the waves of sadness, then expels me like seeds of ivory. O! great Tin Hinan, your brave knight lost his way among... media_text
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When the distance to stillness becomes a ticket for the passenger and there is no other trip, the port of transfiguration is caught in desertification. Sound waves ... media_text
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They vanished like our palm trees. Ancient open windows and old dreams. The city forgot their names while they held its memory in their soul like a candle ... media_text
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The frozen water in my eyes, which was scratched by a cat of time is changing the spring I desire, my vinegary dreams, and the songs that love me into a one-... media_text
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