I am sorry Mother!

 

It is me, Hussein Habasch. I am sorry mother, for the labor pains I caused you when I was born more than fifty years ago. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you for my twenty-five years of enforced absence from you. Oh mother, how can your tired heart bear all this pain? Where does all this patience come from? I am sorry, mother. I am sorry on behalf of your absent daughters and sons. Two exiled sons in Denmark, four others in Germany, a son in Istanbul, a daughter living on the edge of humanity in Aleppo after her home was occupied in Afrin, and another daughter living in refugee camps in al-Shahba after her home was also occupied in Afrin! And a big family, homeless in so many places. Mother, we, your exiled sons and daughters, sorry for all the pain we have caused and are still causing to you.

 

Bonn 2021

 

Tattoo!

 

She lifted her shirt and said: Put a kiss on my navel! In the next day she lifted her shirt again and said: Thank you for the tattoo!

 

 

Health!

 

Early in the morning the man runs to build his muscles and keeps his health.

Early in the morning the woman runs to make the flowers bloom and nature keeps it health!

 

 

Next time in Paris!

 

Next time in Paris I will not go to the Louvre. I will not go up to the Eiffel Tower. I will not look at the Seine from above. I will not pass in front of the Montmartre windmill. I will not hunt women in Pigalle. I will not hang out in the Latin Quarter. I will not walk the Champs Elysees. I will not rest in the Luxembourg garden. I will not stand under the Arc de Triomphe. I will not have breakfast in Saint-Michel. I will not sit in the cafes of Saint-Germain. I will not visit the Palace of Versailles. I will not shake hands with the hunchback of Notre Dame. Next time in Paris. I will get off the train straight away. I will buy a bouquet and I will go to Père Lachaise Cemetery! I will approach with great respect the grave of Yilmaz Güney. I will put a bouquet of roses on it and I will whisper two words in the ear of the great film director: Your “WAY” is my way, it is our way and we do not deviate from it as long as we live. Then I will go, thinking of all the tears that fell from the eyes of Kurdish mothers for many years without interruption.

 

Paris 2013

 

My uncle Hussein

 

When I was born,

my father named me after his older brother

Hussein - who was run over by a fast train

crossing the city of Aleppo at lightning speed!

Many were the stories about his death.

Someone said that he was desperate for life so desperate

that he flung his body under the wheels of the train.

Someone told of an ineffable divine force

forcefully pushing him towards the railway

while the train was crossing and what had to happen, happened.

Another story stated that he was pursuing a woman.

He had fallen so much in love with her

that he was blinded from seeing anything but her,

so, the train ran over him while he was pursuing the love of his heart,

who was at the other end of the railway.

Many were the sayings and the stories,

but the truth bright like the sun is that my uncle

Hussein was run over by a fast train

crossing the city of Aleppo at lightning speed,

and in that very moment his existence ended forever.

What I don't understand is why every time I see a fast train,

I run to it, as if some mysterious magic

that I have no control over pushes me forcefully towards it.

Really why…?

 

Bonn 2023

----------------------------------------

 

Hussein Habasch

is a poet from Afrin, Kurdistan. He currently lives in Bonn, Germany. Born in 1970 in Şiyê town. His poems have been translated into English, German, Spanish, French, Persian, Uzbek, Albanian, Russian, Romanian, Italian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Lithuanian, Vietnamese, Nepali, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tajik, Bengali, Turkish, Berber (Amazigh), Bosnian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Greek, Mandarin (the language of Taiwan) and Tzotzil (the language of the Mayan peoples of Mexico), and has had his poetry published in a large number of international poetry anthologies, more than 150 anthologies. His books include: Drowning in Roses, Fugitives across Evros River, Higher than Desire and more Delicious than the Gazelle's Flank, Delusions to Salim Barakat, A Flying Angel, No pasarán (in Spanish), Copaci Cu Chef (in Romanian), Dos Árboles and Tiempos de Guerra (in Spanish), Fever of Quince (in Kurdish), Peace for Afrin, peace for Kurdistan (in English and Spanish), The Red Snow (in Chinese), Dead arguing in the corridors (in Arabic) Drunken trees (in Kurdish), Boredom of a tired statue (in Kurdish), Flor del Espinillo (in Spanish) A Rose for the Heart of Life, selected Poems (in English) and Olvido (in Spanish), La harde de cerfs meurt de soif (in French). He participated in many international festivals of poetry including: Colombia, Nicaragua, France, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Germany, Romania, Lithuania, Morocco, Ecuador, El Salvador, Kosovo, Macedonia, Costa Rica, Slovenia, China, Taiwan, Cuba, Sweden, New York City, Sarajevo, Greece, Albania, Cyprus India. Recipient of the Great Kurdish Poet Hamid Bedirkhan Award, awarded by the General Union of Kurdish Writers and Journalists. As well as the International “Bosnian Stećak” award for Poetry, awarded by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Writers Union.