Pauses

1

I sailed upon the shore of longing

Where wounds toy with visions

Slaughtering the dream anew

On the horizon of happiness

Twice over.

2

No night rests on the gulf’s shore

Nor does longing linger.

3

From whence comes

The surge of yearning

Brandishing the vast expanse?

From whence do calamities

Grant us shards of pain

Scorching us with the torments

Of endless years?

4

No longer does beauty’s fullness

Grace the radiant dawn

Nor does the mother of sons

Recapture the fervor

Of bygone wishes.

5

No night dwells on the ocean’s shore

Nor do songs reclaim their ardor

Seeking instead

The bitter dregs of lamentation.

6

O you who depart

Your crimson tears

Cry out in the sockets of time

Defying oblivion.

The questions of truth

When they stretch across the world

Trace paths of open flame

Probing the grudges of years.

7

Here I am

Molded by sorrow

While dreams tamper with my features

And fates abandon me.

Insomnia savors my eyes

The blazing heat sears my face,

All my maps are lost

And I remain, weeping

Stirring a tale

That claims I was wrought

From spirit and clay.

8

From where does the story begin anew?

From where do the sails

Of the ship unfurl

Reclining upon the twin shores?

9

I came in the anguish of evening

A tale woven with all sorrow

Where pains sharpen

The dagger of their betrayal

Stabbing the heart once more

All my hopes bleed

And I collapse upon the pavement.

Neither does the dream take pity on me

Nor do the stabs complete

What remains of my lament.

Sana’a, 2007