My Husband Before the Occupation
He stumbled between his fear and his fire
I was slave but his mistress, lady
His name, a tattoo of my pain
His past, a crematorium for my poetry
Once upon a time, my husband—
My husband after the occupation
I said to my husband—
Be like a brother to me
Let’s not wet our marriage bed with even one drop of happiness
The Mujahideen, now in our house,
would smell love’s musk, our sweat
They’d behead anyone
who had both love and breath
.
by Amal Al-Jubouri
from Hagar Before the Occupation, Hagar After the Occupation
Alice James Books, 2011
translated from the Arabic by Rebecca Gayle Howell and Husam Qaisi
.