Poetry and Conflict: An Excerpt from Between the Trees and the Non-Trees, by Agi Mishol

In yesterday’s post, you read an excerpt from a chapbook published within the Islands or Continents collection called How Can I Call What is Between Us a Past, by Adonis. Today, in a continued celebration of National Poetry Month, we are featuring an excerpt from the 2015 collection called Poetry and Conflict, a product of the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong (IPNHK). These chapbooks contain the diverse voices of twenty-one esteemed international poets who came together for a few nights in Hong Kong, an event which takes place every two years, to creatively interpret what place poetry has in the midst of war and conflict—from the recent past to the current era.

This excerpt is from a poem in the chapbook Between the Trees and the Non-Trees called “Back Then,” by Agi Mishol. A complete list of poets featured in Poetry and Conflict are as follows: Agi Mishol (Israel), Anne Waldman (USA), Chen Li (Taiwan), Etienne Lalonde (Canada), Fernando Pinto do Amaral (Portugal), Gemma Gorga (Spain), Ghassan Zaqtan (Palestine), Gleb Shulpyakov (Russia), Jean Michel Espitallier (France), Kim Hyesoon (South Korea), Ko Ko Thett (Burma), Les Murray (Australia), Mohammed Bennis (Morocco), Najwan Darwish (Palestine), Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia), Noriko Mizuta (Japan), Peter Cole (USA), Song Lin (Mainland China), Wang Xiaoni (Mainland China), Lau Yee-ching (Hong Kong), and Yoko Tawada (Japan).

Enter our drawing for your chance to win a copy of yesterday’s Islands or Continents box set!

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