Literary giant Moaen Shalabia pens nerve-shredding and mind-jamming Verses

 Moaen Shalabia pens  grief -laden  poetry depicting  harsh realities of human struggles   .  His versifications  are memoirs of death , war ,  psychological pain and emotional torture.   The poems  are in sync with the ghosts of war and  mass exoduses  in  that land permanently haunted by  unwinding bickering  , political hatred and religious  polarity .   The passionately  weaved imagery casts    somber   experiences of refugees of war  suffering  from both  soul -shelling religious  and class stigma  in lands far away from their   birthplace . It  is  a gory tale told  by survivor of decadent  moments and sorry times. Moaen Shalabia is  an internationally  renowned poet , his nerve -shredding and mind- jamming writings  are fit  to be patched  among other great voices on   podiums  of literary stardom . The poet , writer and chronicler is widely published , translated and profiled around the globe. TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC celebrates  the  birthday  of this multi-award-winning luminary with  a profile feature article of his English and Malay poetry, profile and book covers. Our  determination is  to exhibit excellence , prowess  and   dexterity   as we feature this great literary giant, Moaen Shalabia.

DEPATURE OF THE SOUL.

I saw you painting the dream
Between the fire and night,
And the moons above the night
And grief behind the spirit ,
And the color of grieve likes the twilight.
I saw you carrying the sea in your eyes expatriate,
And plates of faith and disbelief,
I asked the sea if it knows its carrier,
The sea replies waves of tiredness.
I saw you silent dumping the grief on your lips,
You do not ask now about my drowning.
You said: ‘yes’,
Why the river does not flow as we like,
We do not want to pass the love like leaves.
I saw you hugging the thorn,
And the thorn is wounding you
Then I said enough
Of the thorn’s wounds and anxiety
You are incessantly behind my grief and in it
Can you stand the grief of departure?
I’m exhausted with grief, I do not know
Whether the soul leaving my body
Will obliterate this grief.

KETIKA ROH MELAYANG

Ku lihat engkau memasang impian
Antara api dan malam hari,
Dan bulan sedang mengambang
Dengan kedukaan di sebalik jiwa mu
Dan warna kedukaan itu adalah senjakala.
Ku lihat engkau membawa lautan di jiwa seberang laut mu
Dalam pinggan keyakinan dan ketidak-percayaan
Ku tanya lautan jika ia tahu siapakah pembawanya
Jawap lautan itu adalah ombak keletihan.
Ku lihat engkau diam menghambur kedukaan di bibir mu,
Engkau tidak bertanya tentang aku yang kelemasan,
Kata mu: ‘Ya’,
Kenapa sungai itu tidak mengalir seperti yang kita sukai
Kita tidak mahu meninggalkan cinta ini seperti daun-daun berguguran.
Ku lihat engkau mendakap onak,
Dan onak itu melukakan mu
Lalu ku katakan cukuplah
Duri-duri itu meluka dan membimbangkan
Kau tak lekang dari kedukaan di belakang ku dan di dalamnya
Bolehkah engkau menanggung peritnya perpisahan?
Aku terlalu letih dengan kedukaan, aku tak tahu
Samada waktu roh meninggalkan jasad
Ia akan menghapuskan kedukaan ku.

I DID NOT KNOW HER BEFORE

I did not know her before;
nevertheless, her whining letters trembled in my ears,
but as I cast my eyes upon her poor body,
I saw the first goddess of beauty,
carrying the night between her head and her neck,
and on her bare chest two ivory pomengranates,
and behind her heart,
there are walls, darkness, silence and blood on the horizon.
She was neither alive nor dead,
wild and lonely is the place,
I witnessed in her, the absence of spirit and body,
torn and naked without a homeland,
I spoke to her unabashed, with passion and loyalty:
I will hold your crying face,
your moaning eyes, together in the moment of justice.
I saw a warm tear in the night of fear and shiver,
and her dreamy eyelids adored the birds of lightening, I said:
Come to me how you are my woman;
The rape of a woman is the rape of homeland,
no difference between two flags.
The rapists are like the deadly occupiers;
they are dead, but came back again.

AKU TIDAK MENGENALINYA SEBELUM INI

Aku tidak mengenalinya sebelum ini,

tapi kata-kata sedihnya dalam surat terngiang di telinga ku,
tapi bila aku merenung tubuhnya yang lema
dialah dewi paling cantik yang pernah ku lihat,
melewati kesunyian malam, antara minda dan lehernya,
dan di dadanya, dua buah delima bersalut gading,
antara lapisan jiwanya,
ada cerita tembok, kejahatan, kesenyapan dan darah yang kelihatan di horizon.
Dia tidak hidup dan tidak juga mati,
di tempat yang cukup ganas dan sunyi itu,
ku perhatikan dirinya tidak bersemangat dan tubuhnya penuh luka,
dan dia keseorangan tanpa tanah air,
aku bercakap kepadanya tanpa berselindung,
dengan penuh kasih sayang dan kesetiaan:
Aku akan menatap tangisan pada wajah mu,
mata mu yang mengerang kesakitan,
bersama-sama kita mencari keadilan.
Ku lihat ada titis panas di matanya pada malam yang menggigil menakutkan
sedang mata kuyunya menyukai burung-burung yang terbit waktu halilintar;
Lalu kata ku:
Datanglah kepada ku sebagai diri mu wahai wanita ku;
perempuan yang diperkosa, samalah seperti tanah air yang diperkosa,
tiada beza di antara kedua mereka yang melakukannya;
mereka telah lama mati, tapi mereka muncul semula.

GO TO THE SEA, MY LOVE

And if I could
I would reorganize the universe
So that we will become playful soul forever
And I would plant a rosy kiss on the lips
And quench my soul from the foam.
And if I could
I would fall in the April of your eyes
Tenderness, radiance or hail

And would restore my suicide for the mirror
And would be burnt with a spark of flint
And if I could
I would sail on the sea of your green eyes
And would whisper to the eyelids and caress the breast
And would paint the wreath of truth from your hands
And with your hands I would have painted the truth
And shout: You are beautiful as the Eternal God!
And if I could
I would shout I love you
So that you can cross the sea and overcome the grief
Go to the sea, my love till happy times grows!
And if I could
I would perfume our bed with the scents of violets and body
And would draw your voice, holding
The guitar of sad warmth: and the smell of the country
And if I could, I would play the final stage
That we are a moon that collapsed…and reunited

PERGI KE LAUT, CINTA KU

Dan jika aku mampu
Akan ku ubah semula dunia ini
Supaya selamanya kita boleh menjadi atma yang bergurau senda
Dan akan ku kucup bibir mu penuh berahi
Dan menghilangkan dahaga jiwa ku dari buih mu
Dan jika aku mampu
Aku akan berenang di kelopak mata mu
Penuh kelembutan

Dan akan kembali kegilaan ku melihat cermin
Dan aku akan terbakar oleh sentuhan apinya
Dan jika aku mampu
Aku akan belayar di lautan kehijauan mata mu
Dan akan berbisik pada kelopak mata mu dan mengusap dada mu
Dan akan melukis kalungan bunga kematian kebenaran dengan tangan mu
Dan dengan tangan mu akan ku lukis kebenaran
Dan menjerit: Engkaulah secantik Dewi Abadi!
Dan jika aku mampu
Aku akan menjerit: Aku cinta pada mu
Supaya engkau boleh menyeberangi lautan dan menghapuskan kedukaan
Pergilah ke laut, cinta ku
Hingga hari bahagia menjelma!
Dan jika aku mampu
Akan ku sirami peraduan kita dengan haruman bunga violet dan bau tubuh mu
Dan akan ku lukis suara mu
Sambil memegang gitar kesedihan dan kerinduan kepada negara mu
Dan jika aku mampu
Aku akan berlakon di pentas terakhir
Bahawa kitalah rembulan yang gugur… dan bersatu!

POEM WRITTEN BY MOAEN SHALABIA IN ARABIC
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY DR NAZIH KASSIS
TRANSLATED INTO MALAY LANGUAGE BY SITI RUQAIYAH HASHIM

(COPYRIGHT RESERVED)

MOAEN SHALABIA

An Arab-Palestinian poet from Israel Moen Shalabia graduated from Haifa University and is now staying in Galilei. His writing career started in 1976 with the publication of his first anthology at the age of 18. Moen Shalabia to date published 9 poetry and prose books and numerous anthologies with international writers. He participated in many poem festivals in Israel and overseas. His works were published, in newspapers and magazines in Israel and abroad. They were translated and published in many foreign languages. In 2000 he received an award by Palestinian Ministry of Education for his efforts on Palestinian issues concerning justice and freedom. In 2008 he received an award from Arab Intellectual Forum for his writings. His poems won many prizes and awards in poem festivals he attended. He won jointly with another poet a major award by The General Federation of Arab Writers for 2018.

Mbizo CHIRASHA( Time of the Poet Republic Curator)   Author of a Letter to the President. co-Authored Whispering Woes of Ganges and Zambezi. Co-Edited Street Voices Poetry Collection (Germany Africa Poetry Anthology). Co- Editor of the Corpses of Unity Anthology.  Associate Editor at  Diasporia(n) online. Chief Editor at Time of the Poet Republic. Founding Editor at WomaWords Literary Press. Publisher at Brave Voices Poetry journal.  Curator at Africa Writers Caravan. UNESCO-RILA Affiliate Artist at University of Glasgow. 2020 Poet in Residence Fictional Café. 2019 African Fellow, IHRAF.ORG. Project Curator and Co-Editor of the Second Name of Earth is Peace (Poetry Voices Against WAR Anthology). Contributing Essayist to Monk Arts and Soul Magazine.  Poetry and writtings appear in  FemAsia Magazine ,Wrath -Bearing Tree, Inksweat andtears journal , One Ghana One Magazine, Ofi Press, World Poetry Almanac, Demer Press , Atunis Galaxy poetry online , IHRAF Publishes , The Poet a Day , Bezine.Com , Sentinel UK, Oxford School of Poetry Pamphlet , Africa Crayons, PulpitMagazine,Poetry Pacific, Zimbolicious , Best New Poets ,Poetry Bulawayo , Gramnet webjournal, Diogen Plus , Poeisis.si , Festival de Poesia Medellin and elsewhere .

TIME OF THE POET-An Internet based Writers Center, Archiving Theme based Digital Poetry Anthologies and publishing Iconic Poets ,Writers and Artists from around the globe. TIME OF POET REPUBLIC was founded by UNESCO-RILA Affliate ARTIST. Freedom of SPEECH Fellow PEN-Zentrum Deutschland.2019 African FELLOW ihraf.org and Acclaimed Literary Arts Activism Diplomatie,Mbizo CHIRASHA.