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translated from the Arabic by Yasmine Seale
In company
we spoke in code,
in inklings
without ink.
Our eyes alone
let slip the ache—
like phantom scribbles on
the heart’s blank page.
تَكاتَبنا بِرَمزٍ في الحُضورِ وَإِيحاءٍ يَلوحُ بِلا سُطورِ
سِوى مُقَلٍ تُخَبِّرُ ما عَناها بِكَفِّ الوَهمِ في وَرِقِ الصُدورِ
Copyright © 2026 Yasmine Seale. Used with the permission of the translator.
translated from the Arabic by Yasmine Seale
Dress the water with wine
and fill my cup until
I drop.
Pour out a round
for everyone: they’ll make you
their imam.
God curse the man who gives
reluctantly, no matter that he prays
and keeps the fast.
translated from the Arabic by Yasmine Seale
I keep his name
from everyone, but to my soul
I babble on and on
about this crazy passion.
How I long
for some deserted place
where I could shout his name!
translated from the Arabic by Yasmine Seale
In my heart’s a burning
love for Salma, though
I know
she doesn’t care.
I’m left to wonder
at a wound
that will not heal
or scar
like glass, broken
beyond repair.