THE ALIEN

By ANOIR OU-CHAD and YASSINE ESSOUAF

This poetry collection is for those

who suffer from alienation

due to mental

or physical health conditions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anoir Ou-chad
• Release date: Jan 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781916211926

Book preview

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My gratitude goes to the young artist Yassine Essouaf for giving me the privilege to incorporate some of his chef-d’oeuvres into my poetry.

BITTER

I’ve been acting out

in fear and confusion.

The absence of human warmth,

the pain of privation

made me resentful.

Many things

were taken from me;

my dreams,

my smile,

my hopefulness.

And so darkness surged in me.

I was disappointed

in others,

in me.

Maybe

I’ve expected too much.

WHO AM I?

I flee to my inner place

where no one else is allowed,

As I try to hold onto my existence,

I soon realize,

it’s an abyss.

Open from inside to all possibilities.

Depth without an end.

Thoughts and images,

feelings and desires

stream to the edge of each vein.

Some ascend to the surface,

others await their turn in the dark.

Each time I reach at a state of being

I say to myself: this is me

but it would slip through my fingers

and quickly be replaced

by another form,

another me.

It’s so confusing.

A RECALL

I’m unsure if it were

a dream of childhood,

or an ugly memory,

bursting through

the fissures of my suppressed past.

The picture of me when I was five

with those kids,

pushed into an abandoned house.

Pull your pants down!

someone shouted,

We laid down on our bellies,

packed like sardines,

watching each other

being molested.

The laughter of older boys,

their mocking words 

were denigrating.

It felt wrong.

I’m still bewildered

at the sudden recall.

I don’t know,

it must have been a dream.

BARREN

This isn’t anger,

not pain.

It’s a feeling of emptiness

that of a barren land,

scorched by the burning flames

of misfortune.

It’s a barren heart

where easterly winds

carry dry clouds.

Shade and blaze,

blade and daze,

deepening the gashes 

year after year.

It’s a barren womb

that craves a word from God

to breathe life into her.

But He remains silent

until she perishes

from hunger and thirst.

THE EGO

I can’t handle you anymore.

What is that you want?

I long for lust and fame,

beauty, debauchery, and game.

I want to savor my carnal desires,

indulge in flesh and amusement

to the ultimate extent.

But aren’t you here for a virtuous life?

to abstain from earthly desires?

To learn, love, and become wise?

I endorsed the path of refrainment

and abstinence.

They brought me but