Two Poems

by Linda Abdel Albaki

*Taste of Time

O waiter,

I want a turkish pipe with two trays,       

Wine stored in mud,

And a  breath trapped with bombs.

I want bread armed with an explosive belt,  

Stars with dark shades,

Defeated moon,

And a dried out smile.  

I want a silenced tweet,

A rose in the shape of a knife

And

Braided heartbeats around a volcano.  

I want postponed dreams,

swinging hopes,

Desperate hearts,

And spiders

weaving allusions

Instead of safety castles.

I want cooing sounds

Washed with wails

And crucified

On the gate of peace.

Its ashes has been

its ashes dispersing/in the form of incense

that strangles the dawn

I want secret palms

And homeless jasmine

In order to keep

The taste of time

Unchanged.     

*Icantation of rain

Under the sight of your mirror

I raised the edge of my longing

To uncover

The ankle of the moment

And started to run

Across the fields of revelation

My mad steps

Shoo the doves

My heart turned a deaf ear to the Lillie's songs

And here i am

Singing the incantations of rain

Beware

I am  running  ahead barefoot

While letters of the spring season

Leave

My mailbox

Exhausted with memories.

Personal communication

Syrian poet. Lives in Sweida at the far south near Israeli border. She owns a bookshop and runs a private print.

Translated by Saleh Razzouk with Philip Terman

*poet from Syria.