13 may 06 - The Poet of Cairo

Greetings,

Poets and their poetry speak the truth. They speak for the oppressed. Some end up in jail, dead or forced into exile. Some stay where they are, where they live, write and sing. Michael Slackman in the NYT writes about Ahmed Fouad Negm in Cairo, Egypt.

"I am free," Mr. Negm said, as he scratched his head with long, carefully cut fingernails. "I am not afraid of anybody because I do not want anything from anyone."

Mr. Negm delights in being flip, caustic and dangerously politically incorrect.

"They are not rulers, they are dogs," he said of the Arab heads of state. "I challenge all our kings and leaders to step into the street without their guards for five minutes."

Peace.

A Poet Whose Political Incorrectness Is a Crime