To honour the spirit of the Olympics 2012, 204 poems from around the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, have been collected from each of the 204 participating countries by the Scottish Poetry Library.
Here is the second set of ten from Asia. Enjoy!
- Iraq: My Apologies
- Israel: Returning to Tel Aviv
- Jordan: Dog’s Tail
- Japan: Two Tokyos
- Kazakhstan: Summer
- Kuwait: from My Dreams Often Humble Themselves
- Kyrgyzstan: from Nomad in the sunset
- Lebanon: ‘Our cries, she used to say…’
- Malaysia: Modern Secrets
- Maldives: Realities of Island Life
Follow the link to read the first set of ten Asian poems
The poems selected are often not by the most notable poet a country has produced. Some of them are funny or light-hearted. Often they are snapshots of lives rather than grand narratives. And some of the choices may be controversial. However, they all give a glimpse of lives in countries spanning the globe. Together these poems depict a world united not only by sport, but by emotions that are universal and need no translator other than the heart.