I conquer the universe with words.
I ravish the mother tongue,
The syntax, the grammar,
The verbs, and the nouns,
I violate the virginity of things
And form another language
That conceals the secret of fire
And the secret of water.
I illuminate the coming age
And stop the time in your eyes,
Erasing the line that separates
This moment from the years.

translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown

Oh, my love,
If you were at the level of my madness,
You would cast away your jewelry,
Sell all your bracelets,
And sleep in my eyes.

translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown

Oh green bird,
As long as you are my love,
God is in the sky.

translaed by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown

Why do you ask me to write you?
Why do you ask me
To undress in front of you
Like a primitive man?
Only writing undresses me.
When I speak
I keep my clothes on.
When I write
I become free and light
Like a weightless legendary bird.
When I write,
I separate from history
From the earth’s gravity,
I turn like a planet
In the space of your eyes.

translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown