SOAD ALKWUARI (Qatar, 1965)

Modern Ones in the Desert

We talk about many thing we don’t understand
We modern ones in the desert
The last joke in a world full of absurd jokes
Condemned by this space as butterflies in cemeteries
But this is the desert
The sand covers everything,
    Tragacanth trees,
        Palm trees,
            Tents,
                Camels: ships of the desert
Narrowly modern in spite of nature
                    * * *
Condemned by modernity
Maybe the birth of modernity is possible in the desert?
The modernity of palaces
    Air-conditioning hissing like a serpent,
        Mobile phones,
                Chat
But this is the desert
A she-wolf disguised as a beautiful woman.

Translation by Nicolás Suescún