The following are translations of poems by the Omani poet Hilal Al Hajri (1968-) from his collection titled: “Like a Mountain Bird Watching the Collapse of the World”, (Beirut 2013):
In the Pirate’s Grip
The pirate has tightened his grip
On the world’s map.
Very shortly
Like dough
All the small states will flow
Between his fingers.
He won’t devour them as we think
But dip his hand in the toilet
And go away
Searching for his dreams’ treasures!
Granada
Clouds with yields
Nigh and easy
Rains more merciful than mother to child
Breasts like clusters of grape
Wine like saliva of a bosomy girl
Liberty more eloquent than prophets
That’s Granada.
Lady Godiva*
Do you know Godiva?
Delight of mind and heart
Daughter of honor and liberty
Like mellowed wine in grace
Like pure water in nudity
Did you ever see a beauty
Undress malady?
Abandoned Lover
Calling me from afar
Why my sweetheart?
My tears I relied on
Betray me too much these days
I know you see yourself
In my tearful eyes
But why all these vast deserts?
True
I’m not bold enough to cross them
With feet heavy in mud
My charming love
Will you change the rule of the world
And stretch to me your arms?!
A Passing Woman
I know you’re a fleeting shade
I’m a wandering cloud
But I’ll cling to your foxy phantom
Thrust into it my nails
Till death!
Forbidden Fruit
Your voluptuous, wavy curves
I won’t just relish from afar
This forbidden fruit
I’ll swoop down on
Like an eagle
In my dreams
I will leave nothing for my unknown future
I’ll devour it
Like a man stricken by famine!
In her Heart
Put your hand below your left breast
You’ll find there a warm secret
Drowning the world with love and relief.
Ask it to be gentle with me
I who want to be its air and blood
I want to be anything
In it!
Her Breast
Only the chandelier
As she squeezes the skies
Can match your breast
In its glory and vanity!
A Prayer
O my Lord
Guide me to the fountainhead
Of your sacred sadness.
I’d like to dip into it all at once.
I’ve grown weary from it
Dripping in my heart
Tear after tear!
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*Legend has it that Lady Godiva, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, rode naked through the streets of Coventry after her husband refused to remit the heavy tolls imposed on his tenants. Her husband said he would if she rode naked on a horse. She stripped naked, covering herself only with her long hair (the translator).
