Sleeplessness Poem by Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen

Sleep
The flower dropped into the well.
The boys disbanded.
Oh! My eye,
Your eye has become a minaret and ash.
sleep
Time was almost dawn
And no one housed you: who houses us?
Your palm was empty except for the scent of myrtle
And of a dream extended to fuse the circle of people
Into flowers, Euphrates and date palms.
Running after the years tried us.
A letter like a hot bull tried us:
How could we tame it by our nails?
Our nails were full of the moaning,
Of blood and head.
sleep
You who dropped the flower into the well
You who dropped the flower into the guards' well.
Now you have become no more than a blind dervish
Weeping in the darkness for God's sun.
sleep
At this moment there is no one to protect you from
The people's action
The people are asleep…..asleep