A Letter In My Purse - by Shaimaa El-Sabbagh

Shaimaa El-Sabbagh, activist who was shot dead at a rally in Tahrir Square

translated by Maged Zaher

A Letter in My Purse

I am not sure
Truly, she was nothing more than just a purse
But when lost, there was a problem
How to face the world without her
Especially
Because the streets remember us together
The shops know her more than me
Because she is the one who pays
She knows the smell of my sweat and she loves it
She knows the different buses
And has her own relationship with their drivers
She memorizes the ticket price
And always has the exact change
Once I bought a perfume she didn’t like
She spilled all of it and refused to let me use it
By the way
She also loves my family
And she always carried a picture
Of each one she loves

What might she be feeling right now
Maybe scared?
Or disgusted from the sweat of someone she doesn’t know
Annoyed by the new streets?
If she stopped by one of the stores we visited together
Would she like the same items?
Anyway, she has the house keys
And I am waiting for her

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Shaimaa al-Sabbagh was a 31-year-old poet, mother, and activist as a member of the Socialist People's Alliance Party (SPAP). Much of her work relates to Egypt's political landscape in the early 2000s. Let's find out more about Sabbagh's life and work.

Maged Zaher was a 2013 “Genius” award winner who both writes and translates poetry. His most recent collection is Thank You for the Window Office, and his most recent translation The Tahrir of Poems.