Not Maryam

Father, I am not Maryam.
Not Maryam.

Despite that
The one you see
Utter between you,
I am not his mother
And he is not borne from me
Yet the one called Jesus
belongs to me.
…

I am not Maryam, father
Not Maryam.

I buy my bread with my own tears
Every time
You don’t feed me.

Your sky is grapes
And I have not a prophet’s uncle
and My mother didn’t sell me
For the Qibla* of her prayers.

Why then do I see the deaf
And blind
Fight me at my doorstep?
…

Not Maryam, father.
I am not Maryam.

I was not a sister to Harun *
My hands are my witnesses
They tire of shaking
the root of your palms

And I did not dream
of flour falling into my hands

The drink I brought
Is tasteful only to myself.

What’s with these horses
Bleeding and whining
At my sight?
…

I am not Maryam, father.
I am not her.

Your women seek
me for the onset of labour.
And this face
Its features moulded
by the palm of the wind
is ruined by exile.

For the first dawn
I do not rise to deceit,
I am not hanged -
and have no fear.

I am not Maryam, father
I am not Maryam.

But I present myself
As a temple
Lest you claim
that I am Maryam.
…………………..

* Qibla: the direction that a Muslim faces when performing their daily prayers.
* Harun: (Harun Al Rashid 766-809) His date of birth is debatable. The Thousand and One Nights tales were based on him and his imagination.

By Faleeha Hassan
Translated by Dikra Ridha


She 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 language. She is the Pulitzer Prize Nomination 2018, PushCart Prize Nomination 2019.
Member of International Writers and Artists Association.
Winner of the Women of Excellence Inspiration award from SJ magazine 2020, Winner of the Grand Jury Award (the Sahitto International Award for Literature 2021) One of the Women of Excellence selection committees 2023 Winner of women the arts award 2023 Member of Whos’ Who in America 2023
SAHITTO AWARD, JUDGING PANEL 2023
Cultural Ambassador - Iraq, USA
Email : d.fh88@yahoo.com