KNOT Magazine
Fall Issue 2022
Khaloud Al-Muttalibi
Debating Love
This sphere, at the heart of death
Leaves you hanging
Above the ground and beyond it
Leaves you dangling
In a freakish debate
In the thickest forest of your ingratitude
Under a rain of heavy words, of deadly bullets
I fall between the thread of your web
Clutching with fingers
Through which sacrifices pass
And to which the Gods cling to
Before their sleep
My hands that ooze of you
Bring you back to me in a full circle
My hands that gather the mist in the early morning
Take you back, in the evening, to my glass
Here I am the prophetic wine in deserted heavens
I am the red confusion of deja-vu
Each time the darkness engulfs you
I secretly shine upon you
The wind cannot disperse you
Or pluck out the clouds that pour you inside me
Khaloud Al-Muttalibi is a poet and translator. She is the author of eight books including A Void, Full Of You. She resides in the United Kingdom.
Much of her work has been translated into various languages including Russian, Punjabi and Romanian. Her poetry has been published in a vast array of worldwide literary magazines and journals, both in print and online. She has appeared in several books and anthologies.