Sol 5.6

  1. Because rejection and open defiance

    lead to the return of an age of conflict.

  2. So I prepare for days of war

    that I foresee without limit or number.

  3. Nor am I saddened by the death of peace,

    or by plunging alone into the thick of battles.

  4. For the peace in which I lived

    has dissolved in this tyrannical age.

  5. My gentle beloved has become my enemy

    and betrayed the pledges of my affection and love.

  6. : ؟

    I cried, “Why?”—and my question went on

    reverberating like an echo, unanswered.

  7. And love has taken on the nature of the seas:

    from the scarcity of ebb to the abundance of flood tide.

  8. ،

    Is there, then, any point in my struggle with love?

    Impossible; nor is love any use in war.

  9. I shall offer my palm to a falcon’s talons

    and build my dam against the storms.

  10. Nor will I hesitate to slaughter my heart

    if it disobeys me and inflames my passion.

  11. For in war I close the door of tenderness

    and strike with the sword upon the gates of my glory.

  12. I bury the memory of passion in my wounds

    in silence, and proclaim my renunciation of love.

  13. For the beloved knows my weakness

    and knows what I conceal and what I reveal.

  14. No smile upon my face can hide my sorrows,

    nor can a tear from the eye explain my intent.

  15. Nor is my departure a matter of place, for

    all places have become the same to me.

  16. There is no difference between distance and nearness;

    without love, nearness is the same as distance to me.

  17. But I am journeying through time

    upon the back of ever-renewed hope.

  18. I search for a killer who remains

    at large, unfettered by any chain.

  19. ،

    For I am the slain one; beyond have gone

    my cries for vengeance, past the bounds of defiance.

  20. And I wonder how I can remain a lover

    and with love extinguish the fires of my hatred.

Sol 5.6