Poetry from Afghanistan PEN - A Starry Night in Kabul, by Samay Hamed

A Starry Night in Kabul

By Samay Hamed

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is a poetry event

held by young girls and boys

And the moon

An old poet

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is a night full of gunshots

And the moon

The mother of bombs

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is an election campaign or a street after

demonstration

full of used cans and plastic bottles

And the moon

A waste picker

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is a lawn for national dance

And the moon

A traditional drum-player

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is a university that is reopened after a terrorist attack

Stars: Students walking in the dark path towards the future

And the moon

A tired but determined teacher

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is the thorn-covered training ground of poor soldiers

And the moon

The General’s Office waiting for the new gold medals

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is a plain where civil activists have lit candles

To remember the martyred journalists

And the moon

The empty round table of intellectuals

In the eyes of Kabul

A starry night

is an earthen football field

Where barefooted children are playing

With a worn hand-made fabric ball

In the eyes of Kabul

a starry night is a starry night too

And the moon

The moon itself

....

Samay Hamed is General director of Afghanistan PEN (Member of PEN International) and former senior advisor for the President of Afghanistan in innovation. He is a winner of International Press Freedom Award 2003 (CPJ, New York). In 2010 he received the Kurt Tucholsky Prize from PEN, Sweden.