“My Body Is Mine” by Amira Antoun Salameh

Amira Antoun Salameh

MY BODY IS MINE

In that dark, the light
 
strike startled my mirror.
 
I saw nudity—by accident—
 
& did not understand myself
 
without fabric.
 
Thunder boomed & rain released 
 
bright streaks—again, again. &,
 
I froze. Stared
 
openly—exhausted 
 
by dark devouring 
 
lightning, my mirror,
 
me.
 
 
Translated from the Arabic by Jennifer Jean and Yafa al-Shayeb
 

from Rattle #77, Fall 2022
Tribute to Translation

__________

Amira Antoun Salameh, from Damascus in Syria, has published and won awards for her poetry, children’s stories, and puppet theater; as well, she writes theatrical scripts and directs plays for the Cultural Center in Latakia. | Jennifer Jean & Yafa al-Shayeb: “Jordanian writer Yafa al-Shayab and I have co-translated Amira Salameh’s poem for a bilingual anthology that I am co-editing along with poet Kirun Kapur—which is tentatively titled: Other Paths for Shahrazad: Contemporary Poems by Arab Women. This is a project of the Her Story Is collective. HSI is led by independent women writers and artists from primarily Iraq and the United States; it promotes projects aimed at expanding linguistic, artistic, and cultural boundaries in response to global conflict, with a focus on centralizing the experience of women. We believe our process transforms established power structures, creates new grounds for learning, and builds a community of equals across borders.”

Rattle Logo