Remembering

I remember

I was born there,

Near a lingering dream,

When my mother, alone with her passion,

(I‘m alone still, an orphan)

Arranged her dreams in boxes called “us”

And then returned the next morning to

Press her eyes to shed kohl,

While she slept, we lay as naked as a

freshly washed tunic

Inhaling alienation as we dried.

…………………………….

Faleeha Hassan

Translated by William M. Hutchins

Faleeha is a poet, teacher, editor, writer, and playwright born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1967, who now lives in the United States. Faleeha was the first woman to write poetry for children in Iraq.

She received her master’s degree in Arabic literature, and has now published 26 books, her poems have been translated into English, Turkmen, Bosnian, Indian, French, Italian, German, Kurdish, Spain, Korean, Greek, Serbia, Albanian, Pakistani, Romanian, Malayalam, Chinese, ODIA, Nepali and Macedonian. She is a Pulitzer Prize nominee for 2018 and a Pushcart Prize Nominee for 2019.

She is a member of the International Writers and Artists Association, the Winner of the Women of Excellence Inspiration award from SJ magazine 2020, the winner of the Grand Jury Award (the Sahitto International Award for Literature 2021), one of the Women of Excellence selection committee members, 2023, the winner of Women In The Arts award 2023, a member of Who’s Who in America 2023, on the SAHITTO AWARD, JUDGING PANEL 2023, and a Cultural Ambassador – Iraq, USA.

Email : d.fh88@yahoo.com