Abduction Poem by Saadi Youssef

That was not a country.
But it had all it needed
To imprint its image on us,
We the children of impossible clay.
That was not a country.
But it could erase the scrolls of our destiny.
Look how it rises in us again,
And splits our blood like lightning!
We had forgotten it
And said we'll never see its papyrus,
Not even in dreams.
We had forgotten it
The way soldiers forget first kisses,
The way a bed forgets the floor,
The way a wave forgets bottom moss.
We had forgotten it
And said we'll never see it again.
Who let it in through the window?
Who slipped it under the door?
Who brought it to us unaware
To abduct us
With its bloody hands
And to toss us
On top of a heap of meat
For vultures?

Translated by Khaled Mattawa