The One You Accidentally Found in the Mirror

Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah

The one you accidentally found in the mirror
in its dark corner to be exact

was there alone thinking of you
befriending your solitude

The one, because you are in need of company no more,
you called out of his darkness and fed
with your hands

You used to call him and he’d come
point to him and he’d jump to his feet

and as soon as you’d turn your back he’d unload on you
his hyena stare before returning to his corner

Now you recall all this
since you must pass a long time here
staring at the mirror
at its dark corner to be exact

as he sits in your chair
feeds you with his own hands
and passes you some water
calls to you
and you come

 
Ghassan Zaqtan

Ghassan Zaqtan (b.1954) is a prominent Palestinian poet, widely acclaimed across the Arab world. A translated selection of his most recent poetry in the last ten years, Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, is due from Yale University Press in April of 2012. Zaqtan is also a novelist and editor. He lives in Ramallah.

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Red Bird