Poem of an Iraqi poet

Lewis

The War Works Hard

How magnificent the war is
How eager
and efficient!
Early in the morning
it wakes up the sirens
and dispatches ambulances
to various places
swings corpses through the air
rolls stretchers to the wounded
summons rain
from the eyes of mothers
digs into the earth
dislodging many things
from under the ruins
some are lifeless and glistening
others are pale and still throbbing
it produces the most questions
in the minds of children
entertains the gods
by shooting fireworks and missiles
into the sky
sows mines in the fields
and reaps punctures and blisters
urges families to emigrate
stands beside the clergymen
as they curse the devil
(while the poor remain
with one hand in the searing fire).
The war continues working, day and night
it inspires tyrants
to deliver long speeches
awards medals to generals
and themes to poets
it contributes to the industry
of artificial limbs
provides food for flies
adds pages to the history books
achieves equality
between killer and killed
teaches lovers to write letters
accustoms young women to waiting
fills the newspapers
with articles and pictures
builds new houses
for the orphans
invigorates the coffin makers
and gives grave diggers
a pat on the back
paints a smile on the leader?s face.
It works with unparalleled diligence!
Yet no one gives it a word of praise.

By Dunya Mikhail
Translated by Elizabeth Winslow and Saadi A. Simawe

dh

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SixofNine

That is an amazing piece of writing and thinking.

Thunder Rider

Quite good. Usually translated pieces don't retain the flow and meter one language to another.

Thunder

hillary_step

Lewis,

Thank you bringing that poem to us. The lack of jingoism and awkward nationalism, so prevelant in these sorts of poems, gave it a refreshing dimension.

Thunder,

Quite good. Usually translated pieces don't retain the flow and meter one language to another.

I have found that this is almost universally an issue of translator and not poetry or language. Too often the translator is a language expert and not a poet and approaches the challenge in a prosaic manner. Poetry as you know, requires an altogether different emotional discipline than prose and those that lack this discipline will sacrifice metre and pace on the altar of grammatical accuracy.

Examples of poetry that does not just survive a good translators pen but is actually enhanced by it, are Sisson's translation of Catullus poetry and Keeley and Sherrard's stunning translation of the poetry of George Seferis. Well worth the effort.

Best regards - HS

SheilaM

Did they happen to write one about the mass murders and mass graves under his regime? Now, that too would be a powerful poem as is this one.

hillary_step

Sheila,

In all fairness the poem seems to be a general comment on the nature of war, not a partisan attack on one particular faction. Wars are sometimes a neccessary evil but more often they are not. Educating the world as to its horrors is perhaps the best way of avoiding the rivers of blood that have haunted every generation for thousands of years.

Best regards - HS

SheilaM

HS: Lewis is trying to prove a point after the issue with my posting of a poem last night....He feels since he caters to the far Simon land that he is untouchable even if his offensive to myself and others.

Lewis

Regarding translations:

So very true. Thunder wrote:

Usually translated pieces don't retain the flow and meter one language to another.

HS wrote:

I have found that this is almost universally an issue of translator and not poetry or language. Too often the translator is a language expert and not a poet and approaches the challenge in a prosaic manner. Poetry as you know, requires an altogether different emotional discipline than prose and those that lack this discipline will sacrifice metre and pace on the altar of grammatical accuracy.

Excellent observation HS. (Especially translations that have been eviscerated in doctoral dissertations.) Since English is my primary language, I usually consult two to three different translations of a poets work. I have three different translations of Constantine Cavafy's poetry -- and it is interesting to note the nuances and -- differences -- that varous translators make. Reading Robert Bly's translations of Antonio Machado or R.M. Rilke or Rumi can be quite different from another translator. (Especially Rilke.) I do believe that a good translator will always bring something of him or herself to another's work.

Also, HS, I'll check out your suggestions. Thanks.

The best, Lewis

hillary_step

Sheila,

Lewis is trying to prove a point after the issue with my posting of a poem last night....

I guess he either proves a point or he does not, I am sure others will argue that one for the next twenty-eight pages. I am just interested in poetry for the sake of its art rather than its artfulness. Just another aging dreamer gurgling down the faucet of time I guess. We are a dying breed it seems.

I lost all my grandparents and many other relatives to WWII. I know that wars are *sometimes* neccessary, but that diplomacy is *always* neccessary, and it does no harm to remind the world that wars have effects that reach way beyond the immediate. So apart from any mischievous motives, if any, on the part of Lewis I did think his quoted poem had a value.

You obviously believe very strongly that the action being fought in Iraq is neccessary and worth the sacrifice in terms of lives and social and financial repurcussions for the world, and you are within your rights to feel this way as others are to see things differently. If I had a son, and he was fighting in Iraq, I daresay my own views would be different.

One thing is certain, those who cannot grasp that politics can only be an approximation of truth and that in actuality the truth of a situation often lies somewhere in the middle of viewpoints propounded by *either* faction, are often destined to miss the whole picture. Look for the stars and one can tumble over a rock all too easily.

Best regards - HS

Poem of an Iraqi poet

The War Works Hard

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