Poetry by Mohammed Al Asadi
Companion of my sleepless nights… did I not tell you there is no quarrel between us
Come, let the tear pour itself out upon your shoulders
Hearts sleep, yet my translucent heart is kept awake by joy
What could lull it to sleep…?! Tonight its guests are your very ghosts
Dreams, if their details were to be rejected, would wither away
And my pains would be my death were they not born from your hands
You sweetened the wound of your scenes while lashes are keen
With every flutter of an eye, your swords pierce me
On the leash of my patience I lived my life without purpose
Like an empty perfume bottle forgotten at the edge of your shelves
Paper gathers itself together and weeps for you, O rhyme
Were it not for paper and rhyme, your letters would never have lived
If love were to find justice at the hands of the years
Sweat would not have soaked my cloak, only to be scattered by your breeze
My lot is the prison of grievance, injustice, and wrongdoing
And I see the excess has grown — your fear did not stop it
I wrapped myself in my silence against the cold of harsh words
And I placed the guilt of your absence on the account of your circumstances
My eyes suffer the battle of the war of attrition
The remnants of my tears' casualties — their salvation is a glimpse of you
Longing stirs, yet what remains of your heartbeat has not relented
When will I, the night, and yearning become your guests?
Hope hangs on longing bringing you… but I fear
That death may come between me and you… and I never see you…!