Poems by Andrej Al-Asadi 

TWO IN ONE OR ONE FOR BOTH
 
We would pluck out our eyes
And tear off our ears
 
We would sneak into the silence
Between two heartbeats
And stay silent there
 
We would make up a thousand sad formulas
So that we could never find
Our common Denominator
 
We would do everything we can
To subdue life
Before promising instead of fighting
Advocating instead of crying


If we only knew
Just one word
In the language in which
The deaf dream
 
Translated from Macedonian by Marija Angelovska


TREES THAT ONLY BLOOM ONCE
 
Most things that I believe in
Cannot be rippled by a look or stripped by reason.
 
They are words, shelters
Shoulders that dream of the distance
 
The long-mentioned smallness
In front of whose smile
All the heights
Of uniqueness are silent.
 
I believe in the road breaks
Until the circle is closed
And straightened up again
Naked and loud by itself
The thought pervades everything!
 
I believe in the grief
That we conceal
In all languages the same.
 
And the old man’s unwavering smile
And the children’s impatient hands.
 
The longing from which the branch
Softens and grows.
 
I believe in the tears
On the other side of the screen
In front of which the reckless passers-by
Blow the dust off of their sleeves
Preparing for new doomsdays.
 
The bang with which
The Earth awakens us
In the dead of the night
To remind us
Of all the names
We decorate ingratitude with
At midday.
 
I believe in those who have been declared terrorists
For the same thing others became heroes.
 
.
And I believe in the joy in the voice
Of those who suppressed my joy.
 
At the end of my neighborhood
Where the boney fingers
Tickle the dumpster again
And in the centre of city,
Where behind bruised curtains
A white stomach is swinging again
Above someone’s powdered innocence.
 
I also believe in the chemicals releasing
In the gambler’s muscles
As he twitches behind the green table.
 
Is there anything left not to believe in,
When everything’s out there dancing
Without guilt or aim?
 
Just like that.
 
The distance in whose folds
The will is twisting.
 
Old age and youth.
 
And some branches
That only bloom once.
 
 
Translated from Macedonian by Marija Angelovska
 
 
 

Andrej Al-Asadi (1996) – poet and prose writer. He has authored four books of poetry and two prose books. His poetry has been translated into numerous languages. For his first collection of short stories, he won the award for the best debut prose manuscript “The New Ones”. He has taken part in a number of poetry readings. His works have earned him three nominations for the prestigious Miladinov Brothers Award of the Struga Poetry Evenings Festival (2018, 2020, and 2022). 
 
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