vinterfåglarna är hål i gryningens ånga
skriken efter: fisk bröd vatten, hörs ej
ett värmeljus rör sig långsamt genom rymden: lågan
är rostbrun som en döende hyacint, hej då blomma
svart tjockt blod pumpas ur det färska såret
ur den vita munnen forsar ord och vintereld
This poem is a gun
And words are ammunition
Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac ‘Gaarriye’
*
“It’s always difficult to write freely. There is always a kind of censorship — even without laws. It’s hard for poets to write. People read between the lines. It is impossible to deceive them. All my life, I have tried to get around that; but you have to sacrifice many things, to put yourself in danger. I left many countries to keep free.”
There is a little silence in our conversation, a pause for more than just breath. “It is a hard job to be a poet,” he (Saadi Yousef) says.
Sunday Times, 8 aug 2009
