The Dream of Returning

By 
Buland al-Haydari


I dream of returning, oh my city,
to our house whose candles are extinguished.
I dream of returning
to light the candle
to open the window for the wind,
to leave the key behind the door
for thieves
for visitors
for promises.

I dream of returning, oh my city,
I dream of returning
for all the tears in your wounded heart
For your night abandoned in the alley
a black page,
like shame carried by the vagabond,
or the slave trader,
or the drunkard from one tavern to another, for a laugh at the bar
where hunger may enshroud
in its darkness its old worn out shoes
and the story of the crosses on the road.

I dream of returning, oh my city,
to search for my eyes between the covers of a book,
which I left…there…
at the door
for in its pages a reproof had bloomed:
“I hope he would return.”
I want to return
before her inquiry about a wanderer
dries up in promises,
in wind and fog.

I dream of returning, oh my city,
for all the tears in your wounded heart

Translated from the Arabic by Mohammed B. Alwan.

This Poem Appeared in Al Jadid Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 17, April 1997.

Copyright © 1997 AL JADID MAGAZINE