Ahmad Al-Khatat, Montreal, Canada
—Poems by Ahmad Al-Khatat
DAUGHTER OF DEATH
Daughter of death
she inhaled darkness and
exhaled the light of universe
she wears the colour of fall
and the skies become cloudy
With raindrops of forgiving water
she doesn't cry as much as I do
but she gets weak by the graveyard
As she reads children’s names
her birthday is my depression day
grief weeps from reading about my joys
While joy cries from watching me in sorrow
she loves watching broken trees
with branches all over my bleeding arms
her favourite meal is the homeless dinner
her heart beats with the gravedigger’s work
standing next to him, shamelessly drunk
from collecting all parents during the war
she laughs from watching their kids
I asked her to be fair and feed the orphans
she feeds them with Eve’s poison apple to die
—Anonymous
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
Today, half of a yellow sun arises
due to the civil war that forces the
kids to use the kite with sharp knives
to cut the other half to feed themselves
one thousand days of pure darkness
knowing what to kill and forgetting what
to eat by the bloody wall of my neighbour
whom I try to save his soul but he died firstly
nothing belongs to me anymore in here
young teenagers walk with the lifetime crowns
meanwhile, I run after my shadow just to
survive another day far from the death direction
I learn a new language to smile longer
I work with less pay since I have no dreams
yet, I see my days are wearing my griefs
just so I feel my aches in every autumn season
—Anonymous
MY LONESOME SELF
Into the water of the blue river
I see my details without a shadow
my face has a look of a dry leaf
with my back straight as the mountain
happiness is the missing puzzle
to express how wonderful my life is
lonely stars hanging with the moon
like myself lonesome around strangers
Living in another city, not my own
with the future somewhere in my coffin
seeking for attention of the zombies
to eat my bones, to gladly drink my blood
Let me go without saying anything
since nobody understands my misery
when I travel back to the old days when
I thought I would be happy and not crying
I am alone by the whiskey and the
pack of cigarettes that together create
invisible friends, who will enjoy watching
me reading my last words before I die alone
—Anonymous
Today’s LittleNip:
GIANT BRAIN
—Ahmad Al-Khatat
You know that I miss you
but I truly believe that your
spirit has been by my yearning
in which, when I cry my tears
in which, when I cry my tears
will come from my sad heart
and not from my giant brain
—Anonymous
________________________
Many thanks and welcome to the Kitchen to Ahmad Al-Khatat, who was born in Baghdad on May 8, 1989. From Iraq, he came to Canada at the age of 10, the same age when he wrote his first poem back in the year 2000. He has been published in several press publications and anthologies all over the world. His poems were translated into Farsi, Albanian, German, Chinese, and Serbian, and he currently studies at Concordia University in Montreal. Ahmad recently published two chapbooks: The Bleeding Heart Poet and Love On The War’s Frontline (Alien Buddha Press), available for sale on Amazon. Most of his new and old poems are also available on his official web page, Bleeding Heart Poet (www.facebook.com/Bleedingheartpoet/) and on allpoetry.com/Ahmad_Al-khatat/. Again, welcome to the Kitchen, Ahmad, and don’t be a stranger!
Tonight in Davis, the Jack Kerouac Poetry Prize presentation and reading will take place at the John Natsoulas Gallery, 7pm, in anticipation of tomorrow’s 11th Annual Davis Jazz and Beat Fest. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.
—Medusa
Ahmad Al-Khatat
Celebrate poetry!
Celebrate poetry!
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
