Vows of the poor
Over the Atlas Mountains
A lyric in the poetry of Abu Tammam.
She became Beirut and Jaffa
An Arab wound in the cities of creativity
Vowed for love
Possessed by fire
She became Ishtar.
II
As the poet departed
His footsteps drew the map of things.
III
When the poet killed himself
His great journey began
His visions burned in the sea
When his cry penetrated the kingdom of exile
The people coming from the desert of love began
To smash the gods of clay
And build the Kingdom of God.
(Abdul Wahab al-Bayati,
trans. Bassam K. Frangieh,
Love, Death and Exile)
DEDICATIONS AS POETIC INTERSECTIONS