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A review by kimberwolf
Hagar Before the Occupation/Hagar After the Occupation by Amal Al-Jubouri
5.0
Iraqi poet Amal al-Jubouri has written paired poems in stark language, describing the before and after of the occupation of her country by Coalition troops in the early 2000s. al-Jubouri's words about her war-torn country reflect her feelings of pain, loneliness, and despair. The paired poems are mostly brief but insightful. The last part of the book is described as the Cantos chapter, where longer poems are included, some paired and some not.
A detailed notes section at the end of the book gives background information for the poems that contain references some readers may not understand or know. For example, the poem “Soccer Before the Occupation” continues thus: 'was torture / we were scared to cheer / but terrified we might lose... Only the President's sons were cheering / brother sponsors of our game, our rage.' And the notes for this poem explain that during Ba'ath Party rule, Uday Hussein, the dictator's son, directed the national team and was notorious for threatening the players with torture if they lost.
This collection conveys to the reader a visceral feeling of what it must be like to move from the familiar, terrible fear of a murderous dictator to an equally terrible fear of constant, unpredictable violence between factions – at no time, before or after the fall of Saddam Hussein, feeling in control of your own destiny or free.
A detailed notes section at the end of the book gives background information for the poems that contain references some readers may not understand or know. For example, the poem “Soccer Before the Occupation” continues thus: 'was torture / we were scared to cheer / but terrified we might lose... Only the President's sons were cheering / brother sponsors of our game, our rage.' And the notes for this poem explain that during Ba'ath Party rule, Uday Hussein, the dictator's son, directed the national team and was notorious for threatening the players with torture if they lost.
This collection conveys to the reader a visceral feeling of what it must be like to move from the familiar, terrible fear of a murderous dictator to an equally terrible fear of constant, unpredictable violence between factions – at no time, before or after the fall of Saddam Hussein, feeling in control of your own destiny or free.