Poetry

Enter Military Songs

Dalia Taha,

translated by

Sara Elkamel

I slam the door in everyone’s face.

I am now writing poetry.

No one is allowed near the room’s perimeter.

I am now writing poetry.

If I could, I would impose a citywide curfew.

I am now writing poetry.

I lose my temper if you try to talk to me

as I drown in my thoughts. I am now writing poetry.

Everyone must live in silence so I can hear myself think.

I am now writing poetry.

I never part the windows of my heart to the world.

I am now writing poetry.

When I write poetry, I am a policewoman. A tyrant. A dictator.

I am everything but a poet.

Nothing comes into the world without violence.

Not even poetry.

This poem is part of a linked trio. Click here to read “Enter Weapons Factories” and here to read “Enter Silence.”

Dalia Taha is the author of the plays Fireworks and Keffiyeh/Made in China. She lives and works in Ramallah and teaches at Birzeit University and Al-Quds Bard College.

Sara Elkamel is a writer who holds an MA in arts journalism from Columbia University and an MFA in poetry from New York University. She is the author of the chapbook Field of No Justice.

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