“I defy the norm of your humid
democracy, of your chrysanthemums
of fog, you gentlemen of the city,
the norm of your aluminium blue eyes,
of your desires’ stocks and shares, of your fame. . . .
—Lines written by Fawzi Karim in exile, in London.”
The Iraqi Suitcase by Laura Waddington
Source: Selected Paintings and Sculptures by the poet Fawzi Karim. Lily Altai (YouTube)