National Poetry Month: Ahmed Abdel Mu’ti Hijazi

"A Round of Return"

Ahmed Abdel Mu’ti Hijazi

When the body of the martyr rests in

the ground of his homeland, the martial

music of "A Round of Return" plays.

As if a voice of some kind were calling

So the loft of pigeons returned from beyond the horizon

They circle once under the setting sun

then fly off

As if a voice of some kind were calling

The earth takes off its scorched blouse

Shadows suddenly turn green, and shoots sprout,

their fragrant vapors in the heart of the heat

As if a voice of some kind were calling

The imprisoned wind rises

pushing against wheat fields, songs, flocks of sheep . . .

As if a voice of some kind were calling

So the flag fluttered and loneliness and sorrow, longing and tranquility

rained down upon the school balcony where all sound

had died out, the courtyard now deserted,

the green trees inlaid with unripe birds

As if a voice of some kind were calling

So we disappear for a while and the landmarks rise up

We are astonished by our love for this city

and in secret have discovered buried artifacts

among its crouching buildings 5

and that it has a woman, one who swaggers in her nightdress,

and a cat that meows on the stairs . . .

As if a voice of some kind were calling

So we answer: Yes

We feel the bite of longing and pain

and memory pulsates with the names of countries

and comrades and seasons

As if a voice of some kind were calling

Men crowd at the doors of the villages

in clouds of dust and twilight

Drops of sweat and ablution fall from their foreheads

and the night surges with the sounds of beasts

As if a voice of some kind were calling

Weddings and funerals pour forth

As if a voice of some kind were calling

And so we answer: O My country! O My country! O My country!

"A Round of Return" appears online in the Spring 2011 edition of Big Bridge magazine as part of the chapbookAs if a Voice Were Calling, by Ahmed Abdel Mu’ti Hijazi, and translated by Rick London. From London's introduction: "Hijazi was born in June of 1935 in Tala, a province of Monoufia in the western delta of Egypt. He moved to France in 1955 to pursue graduate studies at the Sorbonne. Upon returning to Egypt a year later, he worked as a contributing editor of the magazine Sabah El-Keir, before becoming editorial director of the cultural and literary journal Rose al-Yusuf in Cairo. Early in his career, the controversy around Hijazi’s poetry led several times to his arrest and to restrictions on his travel. He persevered in advancing his unique and uncompromising vision and today he is a permanent member of the Egyptian High Council for Culture, and director of House of Poetry, one of Cairo’s most prominent literary venues."