SAID, translated by Mark S. Burrows



small thirsty gods
who long for shelter
caress even the worms as they pass by
in the nights they search behind my eyelids
for loyalty
then my tongue acquires again
a taste for distortion
with quiet traces of beauty

 

words that have been on the run for years
in the search for their own lies
now rest near the curb
listening for some language that might help
the one returning home
they strip off their clothing, waiting for abstract signs
comprised of double-talk with sensible paces

 


wind and refugees
reveal our seams
disfigured through the shamelessness of its paces
the word flows on into estuaries
and meanwhile reason
—almost without blemish—
is preoccupied with itself
an answer remaining only an allure

 


every gesture a deception but still i send
my hands out without protection
without remembering in search of a
horizon fitting for my eyes my hands
surrender to the way of things and speak
of new forms


SAID

SAID left Iran in 1965 under threat by the Shah, seeking refuge in Germany, where he has become one of the country's—and, indeed, Europe's—eminent writers. His accolades include, most recently, the national "medal of honor" (Bundesverdienstkreuz) given to those whose life and work have been of stellar service to the nation. A past president of PEN Germany, SAID has devoted himself to defending writers living under threat of totalitarian regimes. He is a frequent contributor to the national conversation, in journals and newspapers of note, about matters of immigration and exile, freedom of the press and causes of civil justice. He lives in Munich.

Mark S. Burrows

Mark S. Burrows is a scholar of historical theology whose academic work explores the intersection of mysticism and poetics. He is also a poet and award-winning translator of German literature. His recent publications include the first English translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s original draft of what became the first section of The Book of Hours, published under the title Prayers of a Young Poet (2016), as well as an English translation of the Iranian-German poet SAID’s 99 Psalms. In 2018 he published The Chance of Home, a collection of his own poems, and together with Jon M. Sweeney published Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart (2017) and Meister Eckhart’s Book of Secrets (2019), meditative poems inspired by Eckhart’s paradoxical genius. www.msburrows.com

 

ISSN 2472-338X
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