poetry jam :: Nocturnal Spirits by nasser rabah

Hello,

World!

A short, experimental film by Atoosa Pour Hosseini that reflects some of the themes of the poem and short story for today’s post. It is subtle and slow and transfixing.

Translated from the Arabic

Discarded clothes come out at night,

they roam around in cold rooms,

wearing the words of their owners,

they love, they hate, they scream,

they go back to sleep before the rising racket.

Clothes are our spirits pent up in the dark, in forgetfulness.

In the sleeplessness emanating from our staring at the ceilings,

in the footsteps, heaped at the thresholds of  homes like

autumn leaves banished from love.

Clothes, the troves of  longing for a time that won’t return,

and songs that can’t be forgotten.

Don’t leave the closet open at night,

your old tormented souls have to rest in peace.

Pair with Virginia Woolf’s short story “A Haunted House,” which is also about a haunting that takes place in a domestic space (hers is more positive, but when read through her mental illness at the time, it can have a deeper impact). Rabah is writing about living in Gaza, and Woolf, the war in her mind. Consider the similarities and differences in each piece — how are they in conversation with each other? How are they dissimilar? What does the speaker need for peace in each of them?

Imagine the hauntings of objects and places in your life or your community. Write about those. Imagine what the haunted object might say to you. Would it comfort, give directives, or simply ask for peace and rest? Consider sharing with other hauntees.

*Rabah’s poem was in Poetry this month. Today is a great day to subscribe! Ten times a year, you will get a compact and meaty book of contemporary poetry. Every single issue has something I NEED to read, it is uncanny! Issues frequently have themes, like indigenous poets, youth poetry, poetry from incarcerated folks, and plenty of international poetry (always with the original language version next to the translated version). It is $34 a year ($24 if you are a teacher or student).