Like a Desert Flower

Abstract

Like a Desert Flower Parween Faiz Zadah Malaal (bio) Translated from Pashto by Dawood Azami for The Poetry Translation Centre Like a desert flower waiting for rain,like a riverbank thirsting for the touch of pitchers,like the dawnlonging for light,and like a house,like a house in ruins for want of a woman—the exhausted ones of our timesneed a moment to breathe,need a moment to sleep,in the arms of peace, in the arms of peace. [End Page 29] Parween Faiz Zadah Malaal Parween Faiz Zadah Malaal is one of the most popular women poets writing in Pashto. Born in 1957, in southern Afghanistan (Kandahar province), she began her career as a journalist by writing for the daily paper Tolo-e-Afghan in Kandahar. She also worked in Kabul for Radio Afghanistan. She has recently moved to Peshawar where she has published both short stories and three collections of poetry. Dawood Azami Dawood Azami, born in Afghanistan, is a multiple award-winning Senior Broadcast Journalist with the bbc World Service. From 2010 to 2011, he was the World Service Bureau Chief in Kabul. Copyright © 2013 University of Nebraska Press