Olfa Philo (Drid) is an engagé writer from Tunisia and holds a PhD in American literature. She is an English teacher and a former international volleyball player. Her cause as a poet is to voice the buried emotions and phobias of the oppressed and the downtrodden as well as to unmask and expose hidden truths socially considered as taboo or shameful. She is a female rebel at heart who wages war against injustice, marginalization, intimidation, objectification, subjugation and violence against the « inferior » and powerless groups. Her nuclear weapons in this war are peaceful yet bullet-like words targeted straight to the hearts, brains and souls of her readers in order to trigger their thoughts, resurrect their dead souls, make them face their own demons and restore their anaesthetized humanness. Her poems have appeared in different online and print literary journals in USA, UK, Canada, India, Asia, China, Albania, Philippines, Serbia, Belgium, Iraq and Italy. Some of her poems have been translated into Arabic, Serbian, Chinese, Albanian and Assamese. She has published so far a play entitled Sublime Revenge, a collection of poetry entitled Un)jailed and another collection entitled Female Aches. She has recently created her youtube channel where she uploaded some videos of her recited and illustrated poems.
Youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChMcYZtsitYOCixxYM5Kz5g
Books:
Female Aches https://www.createspace.com/6880348
(Un)jailed: https://www.amazon.com/…/dp/1516817494/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1…
Sublime Revenge: https://www.amazon.com/Sublime-Revenge-Olfa-Philo-Drid/dp/1516854969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492413072&sr=8-1&keywords=sublime+revenge+by+olfa+philo
International publications: https://web.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200170465499750.1073741834.1694791042&type=3
Poems
jailed
in my mouth, my tongue is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
how to compete with lies and vain speech?
in my head, my brain is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
too many shallow minds to teach
in my chest, my heart is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
too many black hearts to bleach
in my face, my worth is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
all other talents ‘him’ impeach
the ‘golden’ cage? my dreams are
jailedjailedjailedjailed
kids, kitchen, bed, the rest out of reach
in my body, my soul is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
needs to break free and my bones breach
in/on earth my body is
jailedjailedjailedjailed
for F R E E D O M
how long shall i screech ?
A Fairy-tale romance
you wake up every morning
to the lovely smile of the wall,
then the bathroom winks at you
such a seductive wink …
once tempted, you find yourself
sneaking into the other rooms
to caress the sensual furniture…
after kissing & cuddling the
soft pillows and cozy blankets,
you’re gripped by the
irresistible touch of the kitchen
where you have to massage
the insatiable dishes while
thinking about the available
ingredients to concoct the daily
bewitching recipe of happiness …
meanwhile your soul is being rocked to and fro
with the musical voices of your ‘civilized’ kids
enjoying silent games…
every now and then you & your partner
exchange romantic compliments about
the grocery list, the expenses, the bills or
the secret love affairs with the high-tech gadgets
which end up mostly with a heartfelt hug…
once the ‘last supper’ is consumed,
the perfume of the dustbin starts
tickling your noses, hence foreshadowing a
hot intercourse on the horizon…
Tunisia, the tempting female
tired of your possessiveness & lust disguised as love!
every one who weds me becomes addicted…
don’t need faithful lovers,
i really crave adulterers!
a three or five year- relationship is enough
then leave me in peace!
first i was raped & held hostage for seven whole decades
by a stranger then a brave guy emancipated me from him
only to mistake me for his own exclusive property &
exhausted all my energy & reserves for long decades…
then another handsome guy kicked out the senile one &
became addicted in turn to my flesh & bones;
he abused my body, bruised my heart, jailed my soul
& precipitated my wrinkles & white hair…
but my silenced & sleepy offspring woke up by then
from their hypnosis & came immediately to my rescue;
they chased him out of my house with no return ticket
after long weeks of grappling and violent conflicts …
once released from the grips of these glue-like guys,
many have lusted after me ever since;
the foolish, the drunkard, the childish, the sly, the zealot,
the wise, the pious, the laic, the modern, the postmodern…
yet most of them were driven by their lust & greed & were
keen on consumption & possession & ignored the essence of love…
they also neglected my role as a mother & overlooked my kids’ basic needs…
now my offspring are quite mature, fearless & conscious of their own rights
hence they won’t tolerate any more the intrusion of a new stepfather
with the same intention of belittling, mistreating or marginalizing them…
so here is my announcement:
any new pretender to the throne of my heart should now know in advance
that my offspring & myself are but one & the same person
and therefore must show his willingness to cherish both of us
beyond measure, otherwise spare me your incurable headaches &
let
me
be
forever
free
“sans mari” !
Magnetic woman
Magnetic woman
walking down the street
turning heads,
blowing minds,
blocking traffic
making hearts beat
for her, some displayed their cars
& offered her rides,
others displayed their
financial muscles and castles,
others couldn’t help singing her praises,
others with their pants down
tempted her expectations to rise!
but when she turned a blind eye on them,
they felt belittled & darted her ears
with insults, blasphemes &
obscene words…
disgusted by their incorrigible heat
by their awful offers unfit,
carried on her way
her head held HIGH
laughing secretly
at their ‘shit’!
wondering about
the frailty of those so–to-speak ‘proud’ lions
at her sight turning into sheep,
about the domestic cats
metamorphosing all of a sudden
into wolves,
about those barking dogs
hungry for her ‘meat’…
she knew she had such power
to have them all under her feet,
but just had pity for those
mere ‘puppets’ with
neither souls nor wit…
Had they perceived the
beating diamond
she’s housing inside,
they would have been
dazzled by its light &
recovered reason and insight,
they would have been ashamed
of the inert diamonds of
their trivial trade,
they would have been
ashamed of being unable
to hit their target
ashamed of reducing themselves
to beasts…
Revolution Seeds
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the touristic coastal towns,
it springs from the ones
for ages trodden down
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones dwelling in the city,
it springs from the country dwellers
whose shortages invoke pity
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the privileged caste,
it springs from the ones
whose dreams are harassed
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the clean ones with full belly,
it springs from the ones
whose clothes are smelly
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones whose rooms they confound,
It springs from the ones
whose bed is the ground
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones with fortune and fame,
It springs from the ones
whose tomorrow is a lottery game
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones curing at a clinic,
It springs from the ones
whose diseases are chronic
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones with cars and lands,
it springs from
the beggars’ empty hands
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones with an iPad, iPhone & PC
it springs from the ones
whose nests include no WC
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the well-fed employees,
it springs from the jobless ones
who are brought to their knees
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones spicing up their pleasures,
it springs from the ones
whose pains are beyond measures
Revolution doesn’t spring from
those enjoying heaters and conditioners,
it springs from the fighters
and petitioners
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones whose joy is their sole emotion,
it springs from the ones
whose tears filled the ocean
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones bathing in bliss and peace,
it springs from the ones
denuded by the police
Revolution doesn’t spring from
the ones whose life is a glow,
It springs from the ones
whose life is a Death-Show !
lovE spellS
when your eyelids refuse to bow
to the night’s king and rest a while
when you no longer know why? How?
your erotic dreams link & compile
So …
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain you are s t r i p p e d
when the sight of your lover’s face
makes your weak body catch fever
and your heartbeats start to race
of a rosy life you are a weaver
So…
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain you are s t r i p p e d
when your life pendulum breaks down
and you no longer set south from north
on your lover’s head you put a crown
before his/her eyes go back and forth
So …
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain, you are s t r i p p e d
when you start tremblin’ while hearin’
your beloved’s voice on the phone
at his words’echo start a –shiverin’
and everything for his/her sake postpone
So …
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain you are s t r i p p e d
when you are healthy yet feel sick
in his absence heart and soul ache
in your memory he/she plays at ‘hide and seek’
and your senses with passion do shake
So…
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain you are s t r i p p e d
when present yet absent- minded
to people’s talk, you become deaf
dreamin’ wonderin’ and blinded
by your future nest and family chef
So …
by love spells you are now gripped
& of your brain you are s t r i p p e d
when all your strengths do fall apart
in his/her arms like a candle melt
in fusion, eternallifestarts
timeandspacenolongerfelt
So …
from Earth’s edges you are kicked
by planet Venus you’ve been PICKED…
