staircase from which amman is seen burning - Zein Sa’dedin

on the first day of eid, on the steps outside          
the archaeological museum, baba and i watch

Stone - Amjad Nasser

I say to this stone: I am you.

A Song and Three Questions - Amjad Nasser

I.
Talk is silver,
poetry is gold,
and women are the ringing of both metals.

Love the runaway - Meleager of Gadara

I make hue and cry after wild Love;
for now, even now in the morning dusk,
he flew away from his bed and was gone.

April Woman - Salma Jayyusi

Poem to My Son

I am an April woman:
December ash that consumes itself
frightens me