Wednesday, December 3, 2008

My least favorite poet


I'm doing a project for my introduction to middle east studies class, and we're doing it on Saudi Arabian poetry. Under the topic of Saudi Arabian poetry on Wikipedia there are four names. The second name on the list is Osama bin Laden. That's right. According to Wikipedia one of the four most noteworthy poets from Saudi Arabia is Osama bin Laden. Here's a sampling of his poetry:

Tomorrow, William, you will discover which young man [will] confront your brethren, who have been deceived by [their own] leaders.

A youth, who plunges into the smoke of war, smiling
He hunches forth, staining the blades of lances red
May God not let my eye stray from the most eminent
Humans, should they fall, Djinn, should they ride
[And] lions of the jungle, whose only fangs
[Are their] lances and short Indian swords
As the stallion bears my witness that I hold them back
[My] stabbing is like the cinders of fire that explode into flame
On the day of the stallions’ expulsion, how the war-cries attest to me
As do stabbing, striking, pens, and books.

2 comments:

  1. Hey, I think I saw that published in the Coward's Review. Hopefully we'll have a posthumous collection soon.

    (Forgive me--I couldn't resist)

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  2. "Tomorrow, William, you will discover" is a pretty good way to begin a poem. Even if it was written by our least favorite poet. It could also be a good opening line for a book or a movie or an operetta.

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