The Ultimate Page
Afeif Ismail
co-transcreated from Arabic by Vivienne Glance and Afeif Ismail
Dictators are all the same
like rusty coins they buy nothing
but their false glories
and the numbness of the bloated
and regurgitated.
They read only two pages
from the book of history and revolution –
the first page and the penultimate page.
From the first page
they plagiarise the words of their first pronouncement:
‘We came to stop sedition
and chaos and to bring law and order to the nation,
to prevent the people’s property and… and… and… and…’
Or some nonsense of that kind.
From the penultimate page
they take words full of arrogance and contempt
and they gabble like a balloon full of pus and farts:
‘A gang of thieves and terrorists and saboteurs and… and… and… and…’
Or some such filth of that kind.
They always forget to read the ultimate page
which blossoms with flowers and roses
from the letters of the names of the martyrs.
And it ends with a short sentence:
‘All tyrants are thrown into the dustbin of history.’
Afeif Ismail is an award-winning multilingual Australian-Sudanese writer. He is an internationally published poet and playwright, with extracts from his work translated into English, German, Spanish and Swedish. His work in Australia has been recognized nationally through winning awards and nominations. In Australia, Afeif’s poetry and short stories have appeared in multiple journals and anthologies, while his plays have been produced at The Blue Room Theatre, World Fringe Festival WA, Subiaco Ats Centre, amongst others. Afeif’s collections of essays, shorts stories and poetry in Arabic has had international critical acclaim. Afeif’s favourite sea creature is a seahorse. Photo by Martin Kennealey.
Vivienne Glance is a migrant to Australia of Anglo-Indian heritage, poet, playwright and performer. Vivienne Glance has worked with Afeif Ismail (Sudanese-Australian) since 2004. Their creative partnership has realised multiple performances and recordings of his poetry; two published collections, Orphaned Birds, and Mum This World Lies to Us!; and 8 theatre productions, including The African Magician (nominated for an Australian Writers Guild Award, 2011).