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Poets of Protest

In this collection, originally featured in the April 2014 issue of Words Without Borders, we present poetry by two exiled writers, Iraqi Manal Al-Sheikh and Palestinian Mazen Maarouf.

Poets of Protest
By the Editors of Words Without Borders
Words Without Borders introduces Manal Al-Sheikh and Mazen Maarouf, two poets living in exile in Scandinavia.
Downtown
By Mazen Maarouf
I roll my pierced heart / across the bedcover
Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal
Multilingual
On Death
By Mazen Maarouf
But we run up against / the stone slab over our bodies
Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal
Multilingual
A Stray Bullet
By Mazen Maarouf
a stray bullet / veered slightly off course
Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal
Multilingual
My Body
By Manal Al-Sheikh
The wearied ships land in its eyes
Translated from Arabic by Angham A. Abdullah
Multilingual
War
By Manal Al-Sheikh
One day there will be no men
Translated from Arabic by Angham A. Abdullah
Multilingual