To my mother and all mothers,
Mother, any mother, is not an ordinary person because what she gives to her children no other person can give. Therefore, God in all religious revelations, puts mothers over all his creation. Mother is a safe haven, a warm lap, a representation of all we love to have for ourselves or wish to keep away from ourselves; she is the homeland and the belonging.
When I lost my mother I lost my gravity and became adrift; I turned into forgotten words and was thrown into a limbo.
Hence the idea of this poetry anthology had come to be, because I know every one of us sanctifies his/her mother. And when I spread the word about this anthology among the poets I met at different poetry festivals I took part in, I could see how wonderful the feedbacks I received from them about this anthology. I felt as if every one of them was hoping and waiting for this project to see the light and become a reality.
However, I was delayed in turning my dream into reality due to my illness, but when I recovered this anthology was the first great work I was trying to achieve.
Moreover, I would like to note that there were two poets who did not send a picture of their mothers, which was the one condition I put forward for being a part of this anthology; one of these two poets has not seen his mother, nor really known who she was. The other lost his mother because the war has demolished the house of his family. I would like, as well, to thank all the poets who have cooperated from the very beginning, even those whom I kept to send me their poems to the last minute.
Finally, I dedicate this anthology to all mothers, asking, at the same time, all those who still have their mothers alive to cherish them and to love them beyond words can tell and to enjoy their existence as much as possible.
Malak Sahioni Soufi
Translate by Ali Salim