And I Do Not Protest
And I Do Not Protest
Why you?
Why you alone
of all women
change the geometry of my life
the rhythm of my days
steal, barefoot,
into the world of my everyday affairs
and lock the door behind you,
yet I do not protest?
Why is it
I love precisely you,
desire precisely you,
choose precisely you,
and let you twist me
round your little finger
singing
smoking
playing cards,
yet I do not protest?
Why?
Why do you strike out all the ages
stop the motions of the centuries
kill the women of the tribe
within me
one…by one
and I do not protest?
Nizar Qabbani
Tranlated by L Jayyusi and J. Reed
Qabbani is one of my favourite modern Arabic poets, he adored women and being in love! Many of his poems can be related equally well from a woman’s perspective as they convey universal feelings of love and adoration. One of my fave of his books is ‘On Entering the Sea, The Erotic and Other Poetry of Nizar Qabbani’. I’d recommend it as an excellent introduction to his work.
From Wikipedia
Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani (Arabic: نزار توفيق قباني, transliteration: Nizār Tawfīq Qabbānī) (21 March 1923 – 30 April 1998) was a Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher. His poetic style combines simplicity and elegance in exploring themes of love, eroticism, feminism, religion, and Arab nationalism. He is one of the most revered contemporary poets in the Arab world.
