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Poem

Ahmed Barakat

Black pain

Black is the waste matter of the daily blood
Black too is the special colour of the wound machines
And pain is black pleasure

Black is the stains on the ground
Of the burnt human oil
It is the oxide of thick fatigue on the eyes of cats
And pain is the broken mewing in the dark
In the chain of fire
In the ash of the aged fingers on the asphalt
In the child’s decapitated head on the road

Black pain
Is also all this smoke
Which the wall breathes through iron lungs

BLACK PAIN

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Black pain

Black is the waste matter of the daily blood
Black too is the special colour of the wound machines
And pain is black pleasure

Black is the stains on the ground
Of the burnt human oil
It is the oxide of thick fatigue on the eyes of cats
And pain is the broken mewing in the dark
In the chain of fire
In the ash of the aged fingers on the asphalt
In the child’s decapitated head on the road

Black pain
Is also all this smoke
Which the wall breathes through iron lungs

Black pain

Black is the waste matter of the daily blood
Black too is the special colour of the wound machines
And pain is black pleasure

Black is the stains on the ground
Of the burnt human oil
It is the oxide of thick fatigue on the eyes of cats
And pain is the broken mewing in the dark
In the chain of fire
In the ash of the aged fingers on the asphalt
In the child’s decapitated head on the road

Black pain
Is also all this smoke
Which the wall breathes through iron lungs
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Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère