The Dancer and the War
Saturday, August 23, 2008 | Dr. TAHER ALWAN
The Dancer and the War
(dedicated to the Iraqi dancer Hanaa Abdullah)
She is a woman of the world`s continents
There is no difference between dancing and dancing
The dance is one, the human race is one.
Hanaa comes from the furthest street of Baghdad
In the winter dawn
Carrying her dances and songs
Like blue sparrows
She lets them loose in the days of Baghdad.
She has been waiting a long time for the theatre to light up
She imagines the streets lined with jasmine bushes
And the audiences waiving at her
But the street to the National Theatre is blocked
The jasmine bushes crushed by the tanks
Hanaa stands by the wall of the Theatre
Looking for the lights and the audiences
She dances and dances in the blue horizon
And puts on a silver crown
She dances hajaa, lailat alhinaa, bintul taraf, ursul qaryah
She dances…..dances…..dances
She swirls….swirls…..swirls
The world swirls….swirls…..swirls
The crowds cheer, throw her flowers
She swirls….swirls….with the music and voices
The General stops her and says ‘No dancing, the Theatre closed,
It became a military base’
....................
Translated by :j.Tachmintzis
(dedicated to the Iraqi dancer Hanaa Abdullah)
She is a woman of the world`s continents
There is no difference between dancing and dancing
The dance is one, the human race is one.
Hanaa comes from the furthest street of Baghdad
In the winter dawn
Carrying her dances and songs
Like blue sparrows
She lets them loose in the days of Baghdad.
She has been waiting a long time for the theatre to light up
She imagines the streets lined with jasmine bushes
And the audiences waiving at her
But the street to the National Theatre is blocked
The jasmine bushes crushed by the tanks
Hanaa stands by the wall of the Theatre
Looking for the lights and the audiences
She dances and dances in the blue horizon
And puts on a silver crown
She dances hajaa, lailat alhinaa, bintul taraf, ursul qaryah
She dances…..dances…..dances
She swirls….swirls…..swirls
The world swirls….swirls…..swirls
The crowds cheer, throw her flowers
She swirls….swirls….with the music and voices
The General stops her and says ‘No dancing, the Theatre closed,
It became a military base’
....................
Translated by :j.Tachmintzis
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