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To Love a Palestinian
by Ehab Lotayef
Toronto, Ontario: Tsar Publications, 2010
80 pp. $17.98
Ehab Lotayef was born in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to our Montreal in 1989. He knows Arabic and English well enough that he writes in both languages, and a section of his first collection, To Love a Palestinian Woman, is printed in Arabic script.
Also a playwright and a photographer, Lotayef also expresses himself as a songwriter and social activist. Indeed, his poetry shows the powerful influence of the latter pursuits. Lotayef’s lyrics are as simple as notes and proverbs: “I want to write but / in this bottomless pit / can’t find the right words to say.” There’s a lot to be said for such explicit statement, but it can’t be said to be art.
Better lines appear in a poem inspired by Pablo Neruda: “Today I shall write the happiest lines: / imprisoned in your love / I’m free…. // Today I shall write the finest lines… / the sea is jealous of the river in which you bathe // Today / I love you.”
Lotayef’s 9/11 elegy, “The Abyss,” works well as a Dylanesque or Audenesque ballad: “No one ever loved me / I have never loved / With no trace behind me / there’s no proof I’ve lived.”
The Arabic lyrics are resolute: “Peace is justice / paying the debt / surrendering the land.” Lotayef is a so-so poet (so far), but an excellent songwriter. His photos of Cairo, Baghdad, and Gaza are also exquisite.
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