Gacela of the Terrible Presence

I desire that the water lose its river-bed.

I desire that the wind lose its valleys.

I desire that the night lose its eyes

and my heart be without its gold flower

That the oxen speak with the great leaves

and the earthworm die of darkness;

that the teeth of the skull shine

and yellow inundate the silk.

I can see the duel of wounded night

battling, coiled with midday.

I resist a sunset of green venom

and shattered arches where time suffers.

But do not light your pure nakedness

like a black cactus open in the rushes.

Leave me longing for obscure planets,

but do not show me your cool waist.

NOTE

A gacela is an Arabic poetic form, usually erotic in content.

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