Shabbar Al-Shawk

This book presents some poems by an Iraqi poet of a very unique voice, a voice of rural settings that confront cosmopolitanism; a voice of instinctive childhood as approached and viewed from a fragmented perspective of adulthood; a voice of romantic nostalgia in a confrontation with postmodern reality. Haitham al-Zubbaidi's world is that of passionate apprehensions, sweet dreams and frightening nightmares, deeply touching feelings and colored memories. Here are some Arabic poems of highly sensitive experiences from past and present, along with striking images and deep insights into human existence. Childhood memories, rural settings, intimacy with Nature and juxtapositions of past experiences with present reality dressed in simple yet very musical diction which make Shabbar al-Shawk a very special message from today's Mesopotamia.