Stripped of Power
by Mohammed Al-Shahat
translated by Hatem Al-Shamea
Stripped of Power
I resisted my weakness
As I watched my eye,
Spinning over women’s breasts
And charms emerging without restraint
From garments that revealed more than they concealed
Declaring its desire
Raising banners of lust
To invade your feelings, to rise up
To shatter all barriers
And begin the battle of the night’s storm
You feel within armies
Have readied weapons of conquest
And volcanoes erupted within you,
Not settling down
You sense being filled with desires.
If you don’t rein them in
Will smash all walls and escape
But power,
When you try to summon it to begin
Is not enough
You cannot unleash
From inaction to action
So you signal your troops to turn
And retreat backwards
To withdraw
You will not enter a battle
All omens foresee
Defeat of all your soldiers
You didn’t regard what time had wrought
Upon your face
Except when you glimpsed your features
As you retreated your physique
You feel abilities
Have been withdrawn from you
And that the years if passed
Take a part of your energy
You are now without power
Stripped of ability
So sit, shattered
Don’t let your thoughts depart your head
And return to you laden with desires
For no sooner do they enter you a little,
And try to push you to rise up
And move your powerless ability fails
Falling then rising
Taking time,
To lean on the wall
Imploring not to expose you
And arouse them
They don’t regard you
And the desire extinguishes
And your power withdrew to its chapel
I tried to follow it
It was weeping
And I saw gallows erected for desires
Many I recognized
Graveyards guarded by troops of ability
Lest they escape again
I used to question myself
Where do desires go
When they enter me
Now I know
I returned to my mind
So my heart won’t react
And my eye won’t look at
Charms emerging without restraint
From garments
That revealed more than they concealed.
The Quarantine Philosopher – Wajdi Al-Ahdal – trans. Hatem Al-Shamea
