Poems from the Western Sahara

von

A collection of poems by journalist Malainin Lakhal.
Very deep and political, exile poetry. Human rights poems for the struggle for the freedom of Sahrawi people.

An example:
Bedouin Obsession

She came to me with a memory of yearning
With a bullet that her love placed
Into my heart
And with a tear
Shed for both of us.

She came to me with memories of the sandy feeling
Of her beauty when we transformed the desert into our bed.
Do you remember the colour of my eyes under the full moon?
Do you remember the poems
you sang for our parting on those sleepless nights?

* * * *

The night is mine
and her smile is the light of the day.
My heart blushes as it aches.
I thought my heart would be my messenger
But I was shocked to hear:
‘Leave the heart in peace’
‘Leave the heart in peace’.

* * * *

I never knew the desert had a breast,
I never knew the desert had a Psaltery instrument
Telling me the stories of my exile like a cradle.
I never knew the night could be such a torture.
If I had known this I would never have doubted.
* * * *
I am knocking on a door
And another is opening in front of me
My heart’s love defies me
If I ever met her
She would come like a dream
Then eluding me
With me craving her
Or is it love?

* * * *

The desert in my heart is a sea,
And the sand is devotion.
The clouds have names that flatter me,
The night is a chain.
The morning breeze coming from the west
Brings the memory of my love,
And the longing for her joy
Is an Eastern blaze.
The night is a pain.

* * * *

She came to remind me of her splendours

My heart bleeds for you
My sweetheart.
Poetry has no words
To describe my love.
My heart bleeds for you.
The heartache I endured
Has consumed my youth
And I spent an eternity
With my eyes silent.
I spent a lifetime
Without complaining.
This is my love, I now raise it,
With all its cruelty,
To you, in a poem.