Poems by Radhia Chehaibi (Tunisia), Published in Issue 28.

Translations by Ali Znaidi.

Urgent Telegrams to an Emergent Love

Revelation

In your name my blood stream

vehemently shouts my innermost to you.

In your name its anchorage when my hand

burns at the outskirts of your fingertips.

***

Complementarity

In your eyes all sorrows.

In my eyes the required tears.

***

Apology

You have nothing by which to expiate

the absence from the pre-date

except shedding yearnings

on a body worn out by waiting.

***

Uniqueness

As if I hadn’t been a female.

As if your hands had never celebrated anyone but me.

As if my whine had never been intoxicated

except with the explosion of your wellspring in my dusty skin.

***

Warning

The fury of his arrogance spreads

and it silently explodes in my body.

It provokes my pulses.

It brings to me the good news of the alternative palpitating

pulse that is hidden behind the inertia of my desire.

Radhia Chehaibi’s Bio:

Radhia Chehaibi is a Tunisian poet. She was born on May 29, 1970. Her poetry is characterised by strong imagery and language. She is also known for writing shorter poems or flash poetry. She authored poetry collections, including What Leaked from My Silence, Travel Recitations, and The Digital Path of the Soul. She was also anthologised in some Arabic and translated anthologies.

Picture of Radhia Chehaibi from http://www.freearabi.com