Ten Years

                                                   Ten Years

I count by ten
every sigh
every breath
every sin
I failed to think 
of you
and no one else
I count alone
as if but a blink
ago
when you closed those
eyes
this glow
this love
for good 
for bad
for bye
but which they froze
and a life is thrown
can I add?
as I sink alone
and I ask why
and I hear none
less or more
did I try?
I still see none
but my son
not below or above
but as sure
as I am here
and as you're
as I will know
that my pain is my own
as I count alone.

In the Desert

                                      In the Desert

By the sea
under frightened skies
of shone past
and stolen tomorrows 
stands your heart
alone by the damned shore 
to love and last
it trembles just once more
for that which it knows
its only sight
in an endless flight  
all too well and gore
moments which are told
and sold
of another day
another breath
failed by our prayers 
in a silent roar
to a crowded death 
nameless and faceless
and all too eager to bore
into our shameless
souls and our timeless
frozen core
forgive and forget me
and what not
and spare none
just like your sea
and your huts
as has Canaan
Caesar and the Three
and all the others
before.

Promise Me Not

                                     Promise Me Not

To remain true when all is lost
to forever believe what you see
through those eyes 
not seen but whose light  
is ever 
so near and ever glows so undue
despite their true and sound lies
from here, there and through 
and all that is not 
mine or yours
forever to dream, 
and not to choose 
this thrall of an endeavor 
and this folly of a sight
whose plight not to remember anew
only to recall those as dark and a blur
shapeless and timeless like death 
blown breathless
on those endless, stark shores
or to forget what you knew
to be true
despite you, and me
and all that was not
of your dreams, of your own
but of promises made unfree 
of another, strayed by winds blown
and sown past a fight half fought 
lulled to remain true when all is lost
and all is but 
mine or yours
promise me not, 
to be that which we sought
loved, and was not.

Will You Still be Gone?

                                            Will You Still be Gone?

When I reopen my eyes in the morning 
will you still be gone?
will the wind care to carry that wing
will this light evade this dawn
to remind me cruelly 
that it can sting
again and again
on sight and with prejudice
mindful and dull,
it can all be you, without me  
will you still be not here, or there?
will I fear
knowing what I have always known
reminded and null
that when I reopen my eyes in the morning
my love for you will never be as clear
or as strong, as lightless
as this awakening 
never as vivid as this dream
in which I saw you gleam 
minutes before
in a timeless stream
of still tears
shapeless, arid and aching
as if wingless on a windless shore
of weathered will and empty years
Will you still be gone
when I call your name, once again?

إلى امّ ناصر

‫                                          إلى امّ ناصر  (في عيدِنا)                                          ‬

‫              ‬
‫أسأل  والجواب يشفع  ،  من أيِّ   جَنَّة  ولأيِّ   زمان   يرجع ،   ويبدأ  هذا  التقويم؟‬
‫حلمٌ  بيقظة ، بحلمِ  ،  ساعة َ  يرى  الجمعُ   ملاكً   كما  صَقلتُه  ملكَات   في   نعيم؟‬

‫أو  عند  ضوءٍ   غَسَقيٍّ   تائهٍ   تردّدَ   خجلًا ،  وارتبكَ   وحيدا  في  ساعته    الأولى‬
‫وقت   لاقتْه   حتما  ودمعا  ابتسامتُك   وقرّة  عَيناك   فَرَحا ،  وصانْته  لمَستُك  أبدا ‬

‫وعندما   ركَع   هذا  الزمانُ   وذرفَ  طوعا،   يسلّم  ما  لديه  لكِ،  في   لحظة  ازليَّة‬
‫رشفَ  كلّ   ما  عنده   رعشاً  ،  من  حنانٍ   ومعاني   وأمنيات   فطريَّة  ،      عفويَّة‬

‫أين     يكون     هذا  الكونُ  السَمْتي   في   غير  انامل  لامسَت  وغَزَلت  حُلما  بحلم‬
‫بدموع  قُدسية ، وولجات  قلبٍ  ساكنٍ  ترنُّ  في  زمانٍ  مطلقٍ ، رنينُ  الوجودِ بالعدم‬

‫أين   يكون  هذا الحبُ  الفطريُّ  في  غير   أحضانٍ  صانتْ   الأوّلَ   والأخِر،  سويّا‬
‫وبكتْ  وابتسمتْ  وفرحتْ  وعبستْ  ورقصتْ  وذُبلتْ ،  عند كل صغيرة وكبيرة   هنيّا‬
‫ ‬
‫أين يكون  هذا الحبُ  الفطري ُّ  في غير  أعيننٍ  سهرتْ  ، وقهرتْ ،  نُُجُوما  واجرَاما‬
‫لتنمو وتزهر  براعمٌ  منها  ولها  ،  كضوءِ  شمس  دافئ ، دفئ  كفيّها أرضا وسلاما‬

‫أين  يكون  هذا الحبُ  الفطري ُّ في  غير حرقةِ   قلبٍ،  صَهَرت   كَوْنا  بدمعةٍ   ونظرة‬
‫أشعلتْ  بنورها  أفقا  عبر أفقِ  ،  وأسقتْ ذاك  المكان  بزمان عطريّ  ، قطرة  قطرة ‬

‫أين  يكون  هذا  الحب ُ الأزلَيُّ  في   غير  نَبضات  قلبٍ ، طرقتْ  ألُفا  ابواب   جناتِ‬
‫وخطّت  في  عُلوها‬ ودُنيها  مسارً لمَلَكٍ  عزَفت  صامتةً،  ورَسَمت  بغير الوانٍ  ولوحاتِ‬

‫وأين  تكون  أمّ ناصر من  شمسٍ  غيُورة،  جثَت  ترقُب نظرةً ،  وتستلهمُ  دفأ  وقربا‬
‫علّها  ترى  وتسمع  كونَا آخرَ صقَل  قوانينَه  بالدمعِ والدفئِ،  بدون فصولٍ أو حِسبا‬

‫وأين  تكون  أمّ ناصر  من  جنّاتٍ  وطأتْها  اقدامُ  كل  الأمّهاتِ ،  غير فنارا  وأيقونةَ‬
‫أضحتْ  ملاكً    على  أرضٍ  لم  تَعرف  قبلها  أو  بعدها  وَعدا ، كَسُعادٌ   لنا   وفينا‬

‫ ‬

The Taste of Snow and Fire

                  The Taste of Snow and Fire

Nizar said it like no other
though known and simple but far from home 
for he knew of this story long before
those eyes met that angelic face
and stayed on that antic road of no trace
and no apt words, no anchors and no shore
I tasted both in every breath
every morning its dew cheated death
in every stare and sight you were not there
and in every flight robbed of its sky and air
I tasted both in every sigh
I thought I felt your touch and warmth
holding back a tear and a lie
I tasted both as one, no clutch and no form
endless as in oath, dark and shy
hiding from them, from all
from you and me, in thrawl
from grace, from love, solitary and dire
remains the taste of your snow and your fire.