What Do You Do?

By Tareq Hajjaj
Translated By Najlaa Eltom & Edward Salem

Translated from the Arabic

What do you do?

I pull a universe
from my empty sleeve,

one silver strand
I pluck like a nerve,

and resurrect the martyrs
for five minutes.

What do you do?

Me? Nothing.

Notes:

This poem is part of the folio “Broken Lines: A Gathering of Exiled Poets,” curated by Laura Kraftowitz and Edward Salem. Read the rest of the folio in the July/August 2026 issue of Poetry.

Source: Poetry (July/August 2026)