He was as calm as his family wanted,
managing a laugh each day of his life
and washing the traces away
with soap and water
Muntather Alsawad
MUNTATHER ALSAWAD studied poetry and criticism in his home country of Iraq, where he taught both college and primary school. He has published poetry and criticism in Arabic, as well as translations from the Arabic into English. A native of Basra, he now lives in the cooler climate of Portland, Maine, where he works at the Portland Museum of Art.
Standing at the Empty Mouth
We Will Survive
by Rolla Barraq, translated from the Arabic by Muntather Alsawad and Jeffrey Clapp
Death was passing through the pores of waiting / like fresh messages from the sky
