This is how the horses gallop, dislodging themselves from the eminence of the carriage
and disturbing the tranquility of the market.
The horses ask the women about the sins of the night and reveal to them the secrets of the rape and the zeal of the sparks.
Mad horses, born out of the lust of the springs, penetrate the tales of the evening, seducing the prey, they delight in sin.
Parts of the body, the radiance of the body:
Horses have manes like hoopoes and horns just as tough
The churches' addicts and those melded in the clay of punishment stand terrified. And when the toast of the wine goblets washes away the attacks, the horses put their necks on the balcony of the tavern.
Women are free to embrace, to give the kingdoms offspring from the tyrannical fighters.

BASSAM K FRANGIEH

is Professor of Arabic at Yale University, USA, and au thor of several books, including Alien atien and fhr Palestinian Novel (Arabic). He has translated leading Arab Poets and novelists into English.