Electronic Thorns
Translated by Ghayde Ghraowi
The soul departing from trees of speech
Does not want to ascend
Nor to be buried;
It wants to finish reading.
..
My heart is a stone that stumbled in the dirt and broke apart
..
O the mud of the storm,
heavy, it drags my soul
From one tavern to another
My hand is a cage that forgot to lock its door
So speech flew away
..
I am made of music
That departs on an evening jaunt
To the garden of the unknown
..
Wherever my sorrow comes to preside
Mud is my door
Outside the blathering cemetery
a lone word was lost
And began to limp
..
My garden throne was forlorn;
peopled with memories
..
My heart,
a garden filled with thrones
The signal was green
We crossed the road to eternity
In familiar forms of transportation
..
In the furor of death
A new tree sprouted
In fine script
..
Its scent is like infirmity,
This soul
It was as it must be
I was as I must be
But we did not agree
..
In a hefty handbag
I abandoned my superstition.
The soul travels, rising, falling
From an expensive handbag
Out leaks my mud
..
Who can direct me toward mud that resembles my dust.
Originally published in the May 2019 issue of Words Without Borders. "Electronic Thorns" © Reem Allawati. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2019 by Ghayde Ghraowi. All rights reserved.