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.