Poems of Whiskey and Regret by Rasha Omran
These poems, translated by Phoebe Carter, are from Rasha Omran’s sixth collection, “A Secret Wife of Absence.”
Poetry
New Poetry in Translation: Sayed Abolela’s ‘Cinema’
This poem is from a forthcoming collection, مصمم معارك, to be published by the General Egyptian Book Organization.
In Memory: ‘Oh Stones Cloaked in Grief’
In memory of the July 2025 massacres in Sweida, Syria.
A Football Chant for Egypt
In celebration of the World Cup, a football chant from Egypt.
Three Poems from Gaza
“I pace this room alone, / fingertips brushing the wall, / memorizing each mark, each echo.”
Three New Poems by Maysara Salah El-Din
“Once, I became / A cloud / To gain / Flight experience / And twice / I became / A brick / To gain / Experience in falling.”
Five Poems by May Ziadeh
“sometimes my soul is wild, / an egret flying far / beyond the ocean’s edge, // and sometimes I curl up, / tender as an anemone when touched, / as salty and as damp.”
‘My Father Chased the Free Bird’
“It is the free bird.”
Two New Poems by Marah Muhammad Al-Khatib
“Alone / on a balcony with no air / I suffocate, grow intoxicated / Coffee cups multiply / stained with lipstick, overflowing with disappointment / taking me to a fresh bout of insomnia / and thoughts, buried before they could ever see the light.”