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Venus Khoury-Ghata
Venus Khoury-Ghata

Untitled

Our cries, she used to say

Would scratch the moon’s windowpanes

And scrape the corners of tombstones which milked the moon

My mother set the long slope of her back against us

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to interrogate the walls’ dampness

decipher saltpeter’s crumbling alphabet

translate the symbols carved on the underside of the city

which she only knew in profile

since she never ventured farther than her shopping bag

rarely crossing the uncertain borders of her lamp

city which sent us its rejected rains

and sometimes a wheezy snow which hooked its flakes into the

pomegranate-tree’s ears

The planet must be cleaned up

God must be cleaned up!

My mother cried, tying her apron.

– Venus Khoury-Ghata (trans. Marilyn Hacker)

Venus Khoury-Ghata (b. 1937) is a Lebanese poet who writes in Arabic and French. Her work often explores the tension between Western and Eastern culture. In 1959, she was named Miss Beirut and became the Arabic translator of Europe magazine. This award-winning poet has been living in Paris since 1972 and in addition to her poetic output she has written a number of novels and essays.

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Venus Khoury-Ghata
Venus Khoury-Ghata

Untitled

Our cries, she used to say

Would scratch the moon’s windowpanes

And scrape the corners of tombstones which milked the moon

My mother set the long slope of her back against us

Sponsored
Sponsored

to interrogate the walls’ dampness

decipher saltpeter’s crumbling alphabet

translate the symbols carved on the underside of the city

which she only knew in profile

since she never ventured farther than her shopping bag

rarely crossing the uncertain borders of her lamp

city which sent us its rejected rains

and sometimes a wheezy snow which hooked its flakes into the

pomegranate-tree’s ears

The planet must be cleaned up

God must be cleaned up!

My mother cried, tying her apron.

– Venus Khoury-Ghata (trans. Marilyn Hacker)

Venus Khoury-Ghata (b. 1937) is a Lebanese poet who writes in Arabic and French. Her work often explores the tension between Western and Eastern culture. In 1959, she was named Miss Beirut and became the Arabic translator of Europe magazine. This award-winning poet has been living in Paris since 1972 and in addition to her poetic output she has written a number of novels and essays.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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