11/04/2026
A critical review of Mahmoud Said Kawash’s poem ``It is the night, it is you` , from his poetry book `` Whispers of a lover’s heart``.
By Shah Jehan Ashrafi
Canada
Poetry is highly subjective, and poets dip their fingers in its ink to tell the tales of various people. Poetry is both the expression and celebration of pain and suffering in verses. Creativity is indeed a tool to attain resilience and to romanticize negative experiences in life. Mahmoud Said Kawash’s poem “It is the night, it is you” from his poetry collection Whispers of a Lover’s Heart (published in January 2026) is a poem that reveals the unique style and thoughts of the poet.
Kawash was born in Palestine. He dwelt in Lebanon, and he is presently living in Denmark. The poet holds a degree in Management and English Literature. His professional career delves into education, translation, journalism, and research in political, cultural, and social studies.
Kawash paints the presence of love as silent emotional resistance in his poem. For him, there is no need to present love as a spectacle. In his introspective verses, the poet sees the beloved as a presence in absence.
The “You,” or the beloved, in the poem “It is the night, it is you,” is present in repeated departures. The poet establishes a sense of routine in separation and the emotional distance between the lover and the beloved. The speaker is used to seeing the departure of the beloved, and this creates a fragmentation in time and in their relationship. The speaker loves in absence rather than in presence:
It is the night that comes and goes,
Living within us in silence.
However, as absence has become a habit, the speaker perceives it as a strong presence in the vicinity, namely in the physical world—the moon, the stars, and the vastness of the world. In this way, the beloved merges with the physical world and becomes omnipresent.
Amidst the void of existence, Kawash creates a strong manifestation of Being: “Practicing the sin of existence, offering the universe the coolness of your breath and the expanse of your lungs.”
Kawash’s unique style and thoughts in presenting the universal theme of presence in absence are very compelling. In a world being devoured by hatred, guns, wars, and constant ups and downs, his poem insists on signaling the presence of the beloved through repetitive absence.
