Love happened at last,

And the kiss more important than the lips.My letters to youAre greater and more important than both of us.They are the only documentsWhere people will discoverYour beautyAnd my madness.Translated by B. Frangieh And C. BrownSubmitted by Noele Aabye

A little of what you haveFor we have forgotten . . .Teach us . .To be menFor we have men . .dough they become . . .Teach us . .How the rocks becomein the children’s hands,precious diamond . .How it becomesThe child’s bicycle, a mineAnd the silk ribbon . .An ambush . .How the feeding…

All that is in you is princelyO you who makes of my words through their meaningCocoons of silkThese are my songs and this is meThis short book contains usTomorrow when I return its pagesA lamp will lamentA bed will singIts letters from longing will turn greenIts commas be on the verge of flightDo not say:…

And never left.And they call for my hanging,Because about the matters of my belovedI, poetry, compose.I never tradedLike othersIn Hashish.I never stole.I never killed.I, in broad day, have loved.Have I sinned?And of me say the fools:With my poetryI violated the sky’s commands.Said whoLove isThe honor-ravager of the sky?The sky is my intimate.It cries if I…

I give you rainShould he give you a lantern, Iwill give you the moonShould he give you a branchI will give you the treesAnd if another gives you a shipI shall give you the journey.

For I am the Damascene whose profession is passionWhose singing turns the herbs greenA Damascene moon travels through my bloodNightingales . . . and grain . . . and domesFrom Damascus, jasmine begins its whitenessAnd fragrances perfume themselves with her scentFrom Damascus, water begins . . . for whereverYou lean your head, a stream flowsAnd…