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In: Anthology

عشق – Ola Elhassan

zephyr meets the shock of bougainvilleas simplicity where walls are smoothed

etched interventions to connect delicate like the stringent of geometry of galaxy

symmetry inside windows of quietly opposite patterns

on patterns lining assymetric curves for interleaved ceilings

passion walks by the azan humming through alleways at the speed of dawn

the recurrence of a memory forms new thoughts so we read ancient wisdom

travelling time we ask the poets from long ago to name our realisations & El Bikri marvels back

و لو دخل الداخل قرطاج أيام عمره و تدبر فيها لرأى فيها كل يوم مستأنف أعجوبة لم يرها في السالف

 

wind carries up waves from the shore to shroud the birds prayer

it shawls the knocking lullaby of bricklayers

unveils the story tellers on every ancient shop front searching for a beaming ear that trusts

along a paved pedestrian path through ruins of ancient destruction or building

holding space for erasure we learned to savour what survived

crescent moon sunrises that insist on lengthening evening waves

lulling eyes to greet the day away by folding themselves into sleep

returning the low tide’s nightfall it recalls a memory’s remnant meditation

 

jasmines creep through balcony slats to get comfortable & settle

cats trotting through chiselled grills scare strangers & pull a laugh from seated grandads

with water jugs by their soles the mundane doesn’t find a word to wear so it forgets itself

clouds burning in pastel levitate over vistas of sea & unruly green

nomadic landscapes architecturally rotate to meet regenerative rain

become containers for salutations in polysynthetic soundscapes

enticing a need to listen before the heart switches itself into a laugh

let the ma’louf singer grin from the wink she lined in yellow & blue calligraphy

 

silver amulets cover the trailing henna inside your silked wrist

arriving courtyards breathe life into you through arched doorways opening into the next second

millenia of fragrant poems have lined the eucalyptus leaf & every traveller wrote another syllable

imagine what the forrest would say when their rhythms greet each other once

again into another hour of awe so alight in your irises they progress gratitude

glancing past the luminous horizoned mountain to taste what the new night will sing you

hear it & let your body sway   watch the air dance the tree branches   this is your melody wishing


Ola Elhassan is a Sudanese poet, curator, and electrical engineer in London. Sometimes her poetry experiments with and about music, mathematics, physics, and dancing. She is a resident poet and member of the Common Sound collective, and has featured on the Common Sound Spring “Compilation 22” and Raelle’s debut EP “Bloodlines.”  She has performed at the Roundhouse, the Serpentine Gallery and Ake Arts Book Festival and more. You can find her poems in various international anthologies including PANK Magazine, Inkwell Journal and most recently, Before Them, We