Afghanistan – POETRY and PLACES

Kabul by Shakila Azizzada

Kabulby Shakila Azizzada Translated by Zuzanna Olszewska with Mimi Khalvati If my heart beatsfor Kabul,it’s for the slopes of Bala Hissar,holding my deadin its foothills. Though not one, not oneof those wretched heartsever beat for me. If my heart grievesfor Kabul,it’s for Leyla’s sighs of“Oh, dear God!”and my grandmother’s heartset pounding. It’s for Golnar’s eyesscanningContinue reading “Kabul by Shakila Azizzada”

Dropping Acid in the Hindu Kush, 1967 by Rafaella Del Bourgo

Dropping Acid in the Hindu Kush, 1967by Rafaella Del Bourgo Early afternoon.We eat milky Afghan caramels,ignore the view below, the town, its river, the valley,lie, instead, on our backs. Cobalt mountains,the enormity overhead,cloud parades:columns of arabi sheep, camels with bright ornaments,fanged and tawny cats.A lone barbary falcon perched on a nearby outcropping,its cry sharp andContinue reading “Dropping Acid in the Hindu Kush, 1967 by Rafaella Del Bourgo”