1. You stripped my bones of their flesh, leaving them
Bare and frail sacrifices offered to you, tightly girdled;

2. And emptied of their marrow until they were like
Flutes which the wind whistles shrilly through.

3. When they hear the name of parting their joints
Creak and tremble at the terror of what they expect.

4. Take my hand, lift your robe, and look at me—
See, nothing afflicts me but that I take pains to hide it.

5. What can I do if you feel no tenderness for me
Nor I any patience to endure your disdain?

6. By God, I think I did all I could to please you,
But I am a passionate lover fated to suffer.

7. I looked as though through a glass wall at our house
From the disturbed waters—looked and looked again.

8. Now my eyes are overwhelmed by a flood of tears,
Now parched and blinded. I blink and can see once more.

9. My eyelids will not be cleared of their overflowing water,
Nor will my tears, for grief, be stemmed.

10. The stream from my eyes is not tears,
Rather, it is a soul melting, dripping away.