ANTENNA
By Yahya Hassan
Translated by Jordan Barger
WE HAD NO DANISH CHANNELS
WE HAD AL JAZEERA
WE HAD AL ARABIYA
WE HAD NO PLANS
BECAUSE ALLAH HAD PLANS FOR US
DAD TOOK ME TO THE MOSQUE DURING THE HOLY MONTH
EVERY EVENING AFTER DINNER WE PRAYED
WE PRAYED UNTIL WE COULD NO LONGER STAND
WE PRAYED AND WE PRAYED AND I GOT A COKE AND A KIT KAT
HE BECAME SOMEONE ELSE IN THE MOSQUE
GOD-FEARING AND LOVING
I SAT BETWEEN HIS LEGS
LEANED UP AGAINST HIS CHEST
WHILE THE IMAM PREACHED
THAT’S WHEN HE MIGHT KISS ME
WHILE DRIVING I FELL OUT OF THE CAR
I THOUGHT HE WAS PARKING
AND I OPENED THE DOOR WHILE HE WAS DOING A U-TURN
Translated from the Danish
Notes:
Read the Danish-language original, “PARABOL,” and the translator’s note by Jordan Barger.
Source:
Poetry
(March 2023)
