"Consolation for a Silly Day" By Nazik al-Malaika, translated (1980, California)

                                     "Consolation for a Silly Day"


Darkness is approaching from the endless horizon
another strange day is gone
its echoes gone to the caves of memories
and tomorrow shall go as well
just like my life
a thirsting lip and a cup
its bottom reflecting the color of its smell
and when my lips touch it
joy of remembrance they shall not find
pieces, remnants they shall not find

The strange day is gone
it's gone and even the guilts wept
and I wept
and the silly things I call memories wept
it's gone and nothing is left except
the memory of a melody
screaming from the deepest core of me
conosoling all but me
for a  life, for a day of my youth
that is lost
in the valley of the mirages
in the fog

It was a day of my life
lost, I found it
where the pieces of my youth were heaped
where the hill of memories
atop thousands of hours were wandering
in the fog
and in the aisles of departing nights

It was a strange silly day
for the clock to strike and count
moments and days that were never mine
it was a horrible interrogation
for the torn up remnants of my past
by the grave of dead hope
beyond the years and myself

It was a strange silly day till the evening
the hours passed in hidden tears
passed till the evening
when a voice I had lost called me
while darkness stared at the horror
of the horizon
and when all my pains and guilts were gone
and the voice was gone
darkness carried its echoes 
away, from heart's eyes
and nothing is left but
memories and the echoes of a strange day
that like my weaknesses will never return

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