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Literature, PoetryJanuary 11, 2017

The Gypsy/الغجرية

Artwork by Daniela Stubbs. Image courtesy of the artist

الغجرية

لا خريطةَ للغجريةِ،
فقط أغنيات
للأمكنة التي تعبرُها
وتنسى.

في سرِّها ترنّمُ الغجريةُ،
بعضُ الكلماتِ لاتأتيها
فتستعيرُ نبضَ الطرقاتِ
السريعةِ والبطيئة.
الطيورُ تفهمُ
وتجيبُ في سرِّها أيضاً.

هي لا تبالي كثيراً
بتحولات الليل والنهار
ولو يدهشُها
كيف يمرُّ بها القمرُ كلَّ مرةٍ
ويمضي
كأنهُ قطارٌ سيختفي بركّابهِ
ليتوقفَّ، في محطتهِ الأخيرةِ، وحيداً.

الغجريةُ لا تنتظرُ أحداً.

التاريخُ دمٌ يابسٌ
في أحمر الشفاهِ
تضعهُ الآن
من أجل قتلِ اللحظةِ
أو تجميلِها قليلاً.

هي تعرفُ الوقتَ
من انحناءاتِ الوردِ،
من قربِ السماءِ أو بعدِها،
ومن اليباسِ في يديها.

حينما تتعبُ الغجريةُ
من التجوالِ،
تجلسُ قليلاً في الظلِّ،
وبعودِها الصغير
ترسمُ على الأرض
وجهَ شخصٍ لا تعرفهُ.

~ Dunya Mikhail

The Gypsy

The gypsy has no map,
only songs
for the places
she will cross
and forget.

She hums in secret
and when words don’t come
she borrows the roads’ beats,
the fast and the slow.
The birds understand.
They answer in secret, too.

She doesn’t care much
about transformations
between day and night
although she’s puzzled
and amazed by the moon,
how it passes her by
and moves away,
like a train disappearing
with its passengers
until it stops,
at the last station,
finally alone.

The gypsy waits for no one.

History is dry blood
in her lipstick.
She applies it now to kill
or beautify
the moment a little.

She knows the time
from the way the roses bend,
from how far or near the sky is,
and from the dryness in her hands.

When the gypsy tires
of wandering,
she sits in the shade
and with her little stick,
she draws on the earth’s floor
the face of someone
she doesn’t know.

~ trans. from Arabic by the poet

Dunya Mikhail is an Iraqi-American poet. She is the author of ‘The Iraqi Nights’, ‘Diary of A Wave Outside the Sea’, and ‘The War Works Hard’. Her honors include the Kresge fellowship (2013), the Arab American Book Award (2010), and being shortlisted for Griffin Prize (2006) and the UN Human Rights Award (2001).

Editors’ note: The Missing Slate editors wish to thank Michael Abi-Saab for his assistance with discussing the Arabic version of this poem.

Tags

ArabicDaniela StubbsDunya MikhailPoem of the Weekpoetrytranslations

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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