SAADI YOUSSEF

TRANS. BY KHALED MATTAWA

The Jaikur of Childhood

If I were in Jaikur at midday
I would have taken my threadbare basket
and my hook.
I would have spent the day trying to fish
at a spot on the Jaikur River.
Deep is the water,
and blind my hook.

Saadi Youssef (1934-2021) is considered one of the most important contemporary poets in the Arab world. He was born near Basra, Iraq. Following his experience as a political prisoner in Iraq, he spent most of his life in exile, working as a teacher and literary journalist throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of over forty books of poetry, two novels, a short story collection, and several books nonfiction.

Khaled Mattawa is the William Wilhartz Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. His latest book of poems is Fugitive Atlas (Graywolf, 2020). A MacArthur Fellow, he is the current editor of Michigan Quarterly Review.