Two poems, by Ahmad Abuljobain
Iraqi Poetry with Nina Magazine
Blossom of My Mother’s Womb
January 1990
Oh, blossom of my mother’s womb,
Whose life was pain but death so quick
Your face, such love, would shine and bloom
Your heart was torn and bled at fate’s last trick.
Oh, blossom of my mother’s womb,
Your name brought glory to its flower
Now you lie beneath a gray cold tomb,
Now life is bleak, taste so sour
Oh, blossom of my mother’s womb,
My heart is void without your counsel
To God I pray that you above us loom,
Plucked from me like a rose’s petal
Oh, blossom of my mother’s womb,
Our lives, not by choice, were rent asunder
My tears are secret, thoughts left to roam
My joy within your grave, bound to wander
Sister dear, I pity me not but miss your smile,
Laughter’s wings from us have flown
Sister dear, the pain, the pain is oh, so vile,
My chest is tight; but my heart is stone.
Dedicated to my sister, Dalia. August 19, 1964 – December 7, 1990
Heaven’s Door
This vast ocean whence I hailed
Was made through choices I had made.
Upon its bed, my heart I laid
And to its Master softly prayed
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
Drop by drop this swell does rise
To drown the sound of wretched cries
As other earthly wells it dries.
Upon these waves my body flies
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
Along this path I often find
Foul creatures of a baneful kind
Whom I must battle in my mind
And keep mine eye from going blind
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
The words they use are harsher still
Than weapons made to mortals kill.
They spew yet never gain their fill
And I must bear their brutal ill
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
Many-a demon I have slain
Although my will does often drain.
This course replete with piercing pain
Has made this trek a tortured strain
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
Yet nought compares to love once kissed
And lost to dreams but daily missed.
Mem’ries borne—my soul to twist.
Sweet scents to ponder as I wrest
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
Echoes heard of dulcet laughter
Fill my breast with wistful rapture.
Days gone by no more to capture
As I turn to meet my Master
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the water I add more.
My strength I draw to vanquish fears.
My mind I seek to question seers.
No force have I to stanch these tears
Which feed this sea that here appears
My life to lead thru Heaven’s door
While to the Water I add more,
While to the Water I add more.
