Daddy by Leila Samarrai

You, with a wax masque of a Summer rain, inconstant scatterbrain
Know: the love of fathers is hell on a st(ake)rand!

You, with your limb more stiff than the dogmas of Lucifer.
Who have you forgot to permeate:

The Woman: who is a river ( for she flowed to you)
The Daughter: who is volcanine ( for she burned for you)
The Earth – which swallows you (ultimate mistress)?
You, who are present but not present, Know:

Hate has a heart! The green heart of shot Lorca and wrath of God!
He, alike you:
Does not love!
Does not forgive!
Does not kiss!

To gift the legal age he rapes the Vestales .
Bloodsucker! Anathema! Harpy!
You growl too loud, desert fa(ng)ther.

I know you encircle girls before the door.
I know you flow down their thighs sweaty.
Like unborn milk flows from me to you.
Like chrome sand flows from my eyes instead of tears.
Like thorns grow within my body and not children.
You, who are a corpse in formalin,
the mute vocalist of the torn wire,
the chalice of poison before sleep.

Know:

My shadow takes you off the wall,
a wingless bird in the darkness of the room,
will skin the marble face and his smile of a victor!

Know:

Even hope at times answers to the mute.
The dug away umbra from the extinguished lantern.

Oh, Burn! Burn!
Flame Pompeii, die in anguish!
May the abandoned children clap their hands!
May the thrilled audience scream of laughter!

Like I . . . Like I who screamed
When Creator waded over me with words:
Maasalam*, my Child! Maasalam!

*ma’a salama good-bye in Arabic 

About the Poet:

Leila Samarrai was born on October 19th, 1976 in Kragujevac, Serbia. She writes poetry, short stories, and plays, her work largely containing the motives of fantasy and humor. Her debut collection of poetry “The Darkness Will Understand” won the First prize of the competition organized by the Student cultural center of Kragujevac in 2002. She has had her work published in numerous local magazines, both in print and electronic form. Some of her notable works include the collection of short stories “The Adventures of Boris K.” by Everest Media and (as co-author and critic) “Poetry Against Terror: A Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism Kindle Edition.” Her works have been published in Serbian, Hungarian and English. She has won numerous awards for her written works, including the third place as a representative of Serbia for the aphorism “Stars and Us” of the “Beleg” competition and three separate awards in the “3-5-7 – A Story in a Moment” story competition, as part of the “Helly Cherry” competition, both in 2011. She currently lives in Belgrade with her two cats.