Poems from Guantanamo: "Ode to the Sea" & "Even if the Pain"

EVEN IF THE PAIN by Siddiq Turkestani

Even if the pain of the wound increases,
There must be a remedy to treat it.

Even if the days in prison endure,
There must be a day when we will get out.

This short verse closes the powerful collection "Poems from Guantanamo: the detainees speak" edited by Mark Falkoff (University of Iowa Press).

Poet Adrienne Rich writes of the collection: "Poems from Guantanamo brings to light figures of concrete, individual humanity, against the fabric of cruelty woven by the 'war on terror.' The poems and poets' biographies reveal on dimension of this officially obscured narrative, from the perspective of the sufferers; the legal and literary essays provide the context which has produced--and under atrocious circumstances--a poetics of human dignity."

On Monday April 13 from 7-9pm, poets and peace activists will present "Poems from Guantanamo" at a Place for Peace, 896 E. Main, Ventura California.

The program will open with background information from Vincent Warren from the Center for Constitutional Rights, continue with readings of many poems from the book with introductions by event organizer Grant Marcus, include an intermission with music from the Place of Peace Choir, and conclude with a Q and A. A donation of $10 per person is requested; funds will be divided equally between Place of Peace, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Veterans for Peace.

In this video, Gwendolyn Alley aka Art Predator presents two of the poems from the collection: "Even if the Pain" by Siddiq Turkestan and "Ode to the Sea" by Ibrahim al-Rubaish.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Poems from Guantanamo
• detainees
• Mark Falkoff
• Ibrahim al-Rubaish
• Siddiq Turkestani
• Ode to the Sea
• poetry
• spoken word
• guerilla poetry