Windows Or Days

Windows or Days Faliha Hassan Translated by Khaloud Al-Muttalibi On the demolished days of the south The windows occupy us Our narrow windows, like the heads of kings We, who are delighted with what escaped from this life, Become trees -it becomes ash Before our eyes The beggar sharpens A dagger of eternal questions When we become hungry The heads take the shape of question marks And we buy the lottery of prayers We hold on to the beard of patience for a long time, Our suitable charm for all kinds of weather Each time the waves became inflamed We burnt the silence in our forests Trying to catch the black glow that was flowing Out of the stone of desire Maybe in the bleeding wind In the air, standing still on the white We will see our candle decorated With roads We are stuck in mire up to the bones, with the sermons Our stretched eyes up to the gates of the palace Dreaming of the throne When the night becomes pitch black It laughs at our reasonable wishes Our names are delusions Our life is a worry Our distinctive marks, without mouths we stare