Poem: What I said to death

Greetings

What I said to death

You silent man
you shiver of cold
in what rapture do you come?
and why is your face
so black?
In those torn-apart lands
you sing and sing
until the wild thyme and the olive trees bow down to your chants
O nightingale
if you are going to sing
then these are the letters of my name
leave them to me
leave them to fuse together
to become a song
that the birds of the world repeat
and listen
and may the hearing please you
On this night, glowing and ablaze
with the wine of summer
you come
and whisper in my ear
my longing for you has almost worn me out
no night vigil will be sweet except with you
and nothing will please me but the shape of your scent
I used to shiver in the darkness of your words
my heartbeats gather their bags to leave
at your mountain voice
and my lips whisper
a melody of love I had never known before
I ask
what is it that unsettles me in your presence
is it your colour
that has no colour?
or these strange appointments of yours?
and did chance arrange for my steps to meet your hands?
or is it the marble stone waiting for a name
to be carved at its head
and you did not wipe away my tears, though you are the one who brought them down?
My heart
beats fast
wrestling with what is left of the sighs
hold me to your chest
embrace me like a lover's madness
and carry me on to where
we do not part
O death
for I know
that you, like soldiers
will not come back from your wars
empty-handed
By the poet Hadeel Nofal