The Presence Poem by Ali Ahmad Said Esber

I open a door unto the Earth
and set ablaze the fire of presence,
in the clouds intersecting
or trailing one another,
in the ocean and its infatuated waves,
in the mountains and their forests,
and in the rocks,
creating for the pregnant nights
a homeland
in the ashes of the roots,
in the fields of songs,
in the thunder and thunderbolts,
and feeding to the fires
the mummies of the ages.

Translated by: Kamal Abu-Deeb