1. Your absence is a fountain of burning regret
And I, parched (your lips did not quench me), sit at the edge of the ceramic basin

2. In front of the House of Arts
I follow the drops of water.. as they rise forcefully, like endless golden wires, soon bending...

3. And falling again:
A cloud of spray scattered like your long hair -

4. On the passersby
And my shirt..

5. And the girls' jealousy
Or descending in circles, circles like the years of my life

6. Dispersing.. Expanding.. Expanding, and lost, in the crowds
Nothing on the surface

7. Except bubbles of memories colored by the dim lights of the roads
My lady.. O wide-eyed one

8. You know how many words were lost
And I know how many years will be lost

9. No one, stops this constant loss.. which they wrongly call our days
No one, stops these two hands racing on the harbor of my life

10. And as they race they nibble on everything:
The streets, and the books, and my wishes..

11. The rain, and the letters..
Friends and my short vacations,

12. And deferred projects, and restaurants..
Except you..

13. O you, O your absence a fountain of regret, burning, and yearning..
Wherever you go..

14. Memories will haunt you..
I say to you:

15. What will you do tomorrow?
When you dig through the streets of Baghdad, in longing, estrangement, and weeping

16. And you do not find me..
I say to you:

17. What will I do tomorrow
With my days..

18. When I do not find you..