Sudan 2 (Variation) (poem) by Muhammad A. Al Mahdi on AuthorsDen

Sudan 2 (Variation)
by Muhammad A. Al Mahdi → (All Poetry by Muhammad A. Al Mahdi)
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The goats on the roof top Like messengers Between Earth and sky Like angels Climbing up And down Heaven's ladder Like cries of joy Like dancers Of the rain Ah! Bring back one day Of our happiest time! O! Revive the spirit of laughter And song! Then I don't care What happens Ah! Our boats flew To where the rivers meet There our hearts met Too And heaven's water Was sweet See Our beautiful she-goat She has borne Three young ones Milk stood in her eyes And from your breasts Like dew drops Pearls white warmth Like little tears Of trance I kissed your scars And a thousand Young River birds Carried your soul to me Soul of soul Eye of eye Scar of scar Path of path Scorched memories Are indelible traces On indelible tracks Across the land Have you gone West or East My eye My soul bird South or North? Palm trees Torn out Lay prostrate to the wind Huts Burnt and left In this cold Cloudy Night of Harmattan Turned graves of the sun And ghostly spoils Of man's sea When man was man's curse And an abundantly rich mother's children Willfully broke The chain of birth And tore it Like her womb Into bits So that one lover To the other Was a scorpion under a stone And I, dear Always seeking you Am the swarthy buffalo That drives The water wheel Round Around Crying Round And round Around Sighing Ah! Bring back our happiness! Let not Your soul Succumb O! Scars Are rivers Our blood is Red earth Ploughed by guns Knives And whips But its harvest Is ours And our veins are the channels Through which life's wealth Is carried Across the seas On laden ships I asked: Where are you, Africa? And Asia replied: Your heart's mirror is the Sudan The ink is black The scroll is white Your blood is dark earth Mixed with light Heart and soul torn In fratricide Deepened your wound And uprooted your spirit And on its poisoned branches grew The yoke of the enemy's might Were you yourself I would not be A slave Nor would you be an exile And neither of us would be homeless Like the betrayed promise of an oath From the days of ancient sanctity The lover's flame drills into me: Ah! Would heart and soul unite!

Reviewed by Regis Auffray

Reviewed on November 15, 2005

There is so much here, Mahdi. It is like a treasure trove where one can lose oneself in the brilliance. Thank you. Love and peace.

Regis

Reviewed by S H (Reader)

Reviewed on November 1, 2005

It's beautifully written. I am jealous, because I never write beautiful poetry like that anymore. I think you are a Poe or a Ginsberg.....Not like them, but that if you keep writing, I just think you would be remembered like them.