‘Descendant of Clay’
Mahmoud El Mardi is also the author of ‘Descendant of Clay’.
Descendant of Clay
My dreams soar toward the vast horizon,
Yet their footsteps are rooted deep within the womb of clay.
That earthen scent—my homeland.
Birds drift into peaceful slumber,
Sheltered by the velvet veil of dusk.
The universe falls silent, and then the stars awaken in my palm,
Blooming like buds of light,
Until I fancy the orbit of Saturn
Spinning around our tranquil, mud-walled homes.
Electricity is but a fleeting wish,
Visiting us for shy, brief hours in the dead of day.
No artificial glow outshines the majesty of the moon,
No searchlight murders the brilliance of the galaxies in their heights.
Everything was as it should be:
The pottery vessels, Grandmother’s riddles, the bustle of the vegetable market.
The tailor weaving stories into garments,
The farmer bestowing the kiss of life upon the mouth of the stream,
The maidens draped in the splendor of African attire,
And the children at play.
Everything was entirely natural,
Where music ascends the stairways of the soul,
And hearts open their arms to embrace the sincerity of feeling.
The donkey brays in the street corner,
And the rooster’s crow rises from the neighbors' house—
Everything is entirely, perfectly natural.
Mahmoud El Mardi is a Sudanese novelist and award-winning visual artist based in Cairo. His multidisciplinary work explores themes of memory, migration, and human conflict, creating a unique intersection between narrative fiction and abstract expressionism. A graduate of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Sudan University of Science and Technology and winner of the prestigious Katara Prize for Fine Art. Elmardi is the author of acclaimed novels including The Secret of the Chisel and Lost in the Mango Orchards. His artwork has been featured in prominent American literary journals, and he is currently developing a large-scale narrative project titled The Walls of Guernica.
