Tuesday 26 February 2008

abu bakr al-turtushi

Absence

Every night I scan
the heavens with my eyes
seeking the star
that you are contemplating.

I question travellers
from the four corners of the earth
hoping to meet one
who has breathed your fragrance.

When the wind blows
I make sure it blows in my face
the breeze might bring me
new of you.

I wander over roads
without aim, without purpose.
Perhaps a song
will sound your name.

Secretly I study
every face I see
hoping against hope
to glimpse a trace of your beauty.


trans cola franzen

3 comments:

Marion McCready said...

these are both very nice, I like the themes, trying to find a common theme for my own writing and I think the idea of longing for the 'other' or the impossible or the absent or even the title of a book of mine - 'immortal longings' is what I'm thinking of trying to work around to try and pull my poems together so they don't seem like such separate entities.

swiss said...

when i read your work i find very strong themes in them - one of the reasons i recommended the dorothy baird.
alo, while it's good to think of trying t pull your poems together at the end of the day the reader'll do that for you. in new and interesting ways you hadn't thought of!

Marion McCready said...

I'm glad you think so, I'm definitely drawn to nature and Baird writes about how small details can convey larger themes which I wholeheartedly relate to.