heart scales

Author's name: Faiq Hussein

I come from the heart of the desert.

I come laden with my shadow and my spells,

With my mirrors and my masks.

I wrap myself in gray.

I expose my face to sea salt

And to the wind belong my seeds, my names, and my words.

***

In the poems of Faeq Hussein (Nasiriyah/Iraq 1944 - Michigan/USA 2003) – the visual artist, graphic designer, printer, and expatriate poet – there is a remarkable diversity, ranging from the Iraqi atmosphere to the Spanish experience, from alienation to presence, from temporary existence to imagined return. These poems represent a return to the unique perspective of a person, whether in painting or poetry, as in this work, without speaking of departure or absence, because his sole journey was through words and colors. Cities never tempted him, so he never settled in any of them, fearing that the noisy chariot of the other world would catch up with him and drag him by the delicate collar of his shirt forever.

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