1. He had her where there was no shade or palm fronds,
From the empty palms, a half gazelle.

2. The happier half that she started with,
Before the yaa and alif were erased from her youth.

3. More tempting, the most tempting thing about her temptation,
Was childhood, and the fullness of her ripe bosom.

4. He had her for some time, not connected
To a past or a lineage extending from her fertility.

5. She’s gone, with no news coming to him, and in
The folds of the wind, none of her news as a gift.

6. And the story whose letters history collected,
The ink laughed in his palms and the pages.

7. And the first day slipped from his memory,
And in his supposition some of her gestures were picked.

8. It was Thursday or Monday and gatherings accumulated,
Pushing away the memory and grabbing it.

9. In early October, her windows called out to him,
So he swooped like a ghost, slowing down and swirling.

10. Is that her bedroom? The stars spill onto
His forehead and camp on his eyes.

11. Rather that’s her room, or is it, whichever
One, as her rooms dressed up in their outfits.

12. And after a day and night he came to ask her
About her uncle - they told him he passed away.

13. Who is it you want? And she relaxes her words
As the lazy letters eat and sip.

14. And he claims they said: Doesn't she have
An uncle? And he twists the claim and bleeds it dry.

15. And he asks for more - is there a house here?
I think (so-and-so's) house, its people left.

16. And his saliva betrayed him, so her stuttering
Became permitted, and the excuse and regret appeared.

17. And halfway through (November) his neighbor’s daughter visited,
Divulging the news, the doors and balconies.

18. And a woman said: who is she? And another turned,
Her eyes denying and confessing.

19. And an old woman recognized her, her only craft
Was creating sins for God's sake, a professional.

20. And a woman told her grandmother about her
A chapter, like coral melting atop the greenery.

21. So she protected her and said: she resembled me,
But for each long tale my daughter, there is an end.

22. And the abandoned street murmured: she crossed
Like a mountain flood crossing.

23. And when she returned and shyly greeted him,
He responded, not hoping for what he hoped for, if only she would stop.

24. And behind her he followed, and the mirage’s promise led him
To the house whose walls oozed with adolescence.

25. Until the lips of the door felt her - no one
Visits him, and he has no heart, dried up.

26. And he doubted and suspected until his story
Was scorned by a dog there, and a bundled up bull.

27. And he returned from where he knows not, on roads
Of confusion to the unknown tossed about.

28. So he got used to mentioning a house she touched
With her mouth on its road, and the house’s shade he wrapped himself in.

29. And her house drew near the shade of his shelter,
A hand learning from her generosity to exceed.

30. And he would listen as she called her daughter
And a neighbor other than him she hid from and revealed herself to.

31. When will she confide and will a road spill
Her thoughts and inform about her at a turn?

32. And an ashy month of crooked steps decrepit
Arrived, its features were lost, and shoulders slackened.

33. And at its end, she came to ask him
About her uncle...he hasn't visited us, missing the honor.

34. So a lazy laugh, her childhood
Stubborn, cracked on the delicate coyness.

35. So he extended a shy hand and bowed, and the
Unknown appointment and disdain fled from her face.

36. And he wished, and the hunger of the forty days
Begged on his withering cheeks, shivering.

37. And he spoke what he knew not, so she faked anger:
“Who left me? Tell others: I am done.”

38. And she turned away: “How is our street?”
“Nice...and its evil residents and riffraff?”

39. (So-and-so) didn't leave her reputation, and (so-and-so) a
Boy who seduces and lies in his promises and oaths.

40. From that day, the day of (her uncle), he had
A lifetime with no destination, withdrawn.

41. And he imagined before him a nest indulging him
On a companion for chats, a garden of bliss.

42. It bore for him whoever he calls his companions
And which of its muses he feels and plucks?

43. And an era passed like the lifetime of a dream watching him,
When will it return, changing him?

44. And in it he was like a newborn in prosperity
Who finished his nursing of wandering and rags.

45. She was his, and he recounts memories to
A ghost meeting his eyes and veering off.

46. And today in the hungry village, a trifling road,
And a road of thorns seizing him.

47. He walks like the wind in the neighborhoods ejecting him
Astray, and mocking his aim.