Kurdistan in the eye of a poet

[talsor]

Kurdistan in the eye of a poet

The Canadian poet Patrick
By Khidhir Domle
The Kurdish Globe

Canadian poet wants to illustrate life in Kurdistan through poetic words.

A Canadian poet who was supposed to teach English in Kurdistan is now trying to introduce the country to the outside world in poetry.

Tens of visitors, who come to the Kurdistan Region, cannot think about the reality of movements of things as artists and poets do. Patrick, a Canadian poet wants to illustrate the different aspects of Kurdish life as he sees things differently from ordinary people.

It is the first time Patrick visits Kurdistan Region to teach English language, and he told the Globe that he wants to write poetry about Kurdistan, different from what journalists say in their articles about the political affairs here. Patrick stated that he likes to illustrate the daily life of the Kurdish streets, via poetry, from what he sees.

"What I am going to write is about the nature of Kurdistan. The poems will concern things like food and beauty of Kurdistan, and I walk around the streets at nights and days in order to see things and describe them through poetic words," said Patrick, who has composed five books of poetry about different countries he visited, adding: "I want to show the most beautiful image from Kurdistan effectively. Iintend to illustrate the reality of lives of modest people and describe the Kurdish beauty because I felt this beauty closely when I returned from a major Duhok Hospital after I noticed I was ill."

Patrick said that he wants to describe Kurdistan unlike the others, in a special way. In his opinion feeling is not something easy but in Kurdistan, as Patrick argues, this kind of feeling exists and there is always new and different things.

"When I found out that there is an opportunity to work in Kurdistan, I came here because I knew that Kurdistan deserved to be dealt with in poetry," explained Patrick who has visited many countries during past sixteen years.

"I wish to write about the places I visit and show what cannot be seen by everyone, for example the café where we are sitting now and I will write about the fragrance of water pipe and also the crowdedness of this place," the Canadian poet remarked while sitting in a café with the Globe reporter. Patrick, whose last book of poetry was about Colombia, noted his concern will be on the lifestyle of people in Kurdistan.

"It is the unwritten duty of the artists and poets to produce poetic words from what they see, and I wish I can do so. As far as Kurdistan is concerned, I think most people are unaware of many things in Kurdistan including the culture of people and recent developments," Patrick said.