Selections

Basim al-Ansar
I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY!

We can no longer see the horizon!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

Our stories sing the praises of the desert!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

All our houses have holes in them!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

Our travels are attacked by ideas from the sky!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

Our souls are wet with cravings!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

No longer trees die standing!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

No longer we sing the song of departure!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

No longer we dance to the beat of the unruly wave!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

The pleasure of war has ended and peace now reigns in our hearts!

Let the rains pound, let them pound.

Oh rain!

Take away from us the idea of remaining, and let us see the places lying on the streets of hidden presence.

Damn!

The disappointments multiplied on the road, and I sat on the sidewalks recording their numbers on the pages of my heart. I didn’t sleep on the pillow of day until I saw my old tree. Then, somewhere, a woman like a frisky deer kidnapped me and threw me into laps of silk, so I forgot the rocks’ bruises printed on my soul. Then I visited places absent of empty chatter about God. I saw the forbidden glimmer, and braced my body against the wind. Then I headed toward the endings I’d been dreaming of since childhood. I was forced to swallow emptiness, so I added poison to it and gave it to other mouths bursting with darkness. And when the rocks tried to seduce my hand, I grabbed them and threw them into the barren valleys. I could have taken refuge in secure places, but I preferred to stay inside the sound of words.

I have nothing to say!