Casida of the Reclining Woman

To see you naked is to recall the Earth.

The Earth, smooth, without horses.

The Earth without rushes, pure form,

closed to the future: silver border.

To see you naked is to understand the anguish

of rain that seeks a weak form,

or the fever of a sea of boundless face

not finding the light of its own cheek.

Blood will ring through the alcoves

and will come with brilliant swords,

but you will not know where

the heart of the toad or the violet is hidden.

Your womb is a tangle of roots

and your lips a dawn without contour.

Under the indifferent roses of the bed

the dead roar, waiting a turn.

NOTE

A casida is an Arabic poetic form, usually a love poem.

Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Mar/Apr 2005
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