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An ordinary day
The security officer
got up early
put on his white shirt
had honey toast with nuts
kissed his three children
hugged his wife passionately
and left for work
At his desk
sat ten files
of ten men to be shot
He signed them
while drinking mint tea
At ten o’clock
he ordered the shooting
got angry over a gunman who missed his target
Taking out his pistol
he fired at the missed target ten times
Before the end of his shift
he visited the mothers of the ten shot men
ordered each to pay 100 dinars
for the cost of the bullets that killed their sons
In the evening
he celebrated his brother’s birthday
At night
on the surface of a mirror
he saw a drop of blood trickling down to his feet
he tried to wash it
the trickle rose to his chest
Where does the difference lie between the killer and killed?
"“An Ordinary Dayâ€, a poem from Bells of Speech (Ambit, 2006) by Kurdish poet Nazand Begikhani nominated for this year’s UK Forward Book of Poetry prize. The poem has been reprinted and published in an anthology of the “best poems of the year from the Forward Poetry Prizesâ€."
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