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Despair breeds hope
1 min read

Poems by Anis Ghuneimah

These two poems are from the poetry collection The Funeral of a Magician by Anis Ghuneimah, winner of the first prize in the Young Writer of the Year 2017 competition, launched by the A.M. Qattan Foundation. Ghuneimah was born in Gaza City in 1992, and currently lives there. His main focus is supporting Arabic content on the internet. He is a member of Utopia, a youth organization promoting knowledge . His works are published in local and Arab literary and cultural magazines.

Credits By Anis Ghuneimah Translation by Wael Sawah May 24 2023

Hello

Hello, useless world,
men, women, and children,
and savage animals.

O life at twenty,
the scars in the heart,
and all the scratches.

O poets,
hello my good masters,
my enemies always,
and friends forever.

Who knows,
maybe we are an anthem of the past,
no matter how high the roof we’re on,
we are lower than a foothold.

Who knows,
maybe we are nothing but our images,
that were extinguished by water,
before we even looked.

.

.

.

Annunciation

Lovingly,
I open my room window,
at midnight,
and I spit on the world.
Over my head, a picture frame,
my first birthday present.
The prophets open their arms wide,
and like angels,
they preach to me.

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