Nazik Al-Malaika Poems

New Year, don't come to our homes, for we are wanderers
from a ghost-world, denied by man.
Night flees from us, fate has deserted us
We live as wandering spirits
...

She stood before the sun, screaming:
'Sun! You are like my rebellious heart
...

The night asks who am I ?
I am its secrets-anxious, black, profound
...

Blow out the candle and leave us strangers here
We are two parts of the night, so what is the meaning of light?
...

Why do we fear words
when they have been rose-palmed hands,
fragrant, passing gently over our cheeks,
and glasses of heartening wine
...