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Amjad Nasser

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Breaths of Haiku

      I
The scent that exudes
From the flat spaces of maidenhood
Invested me with the sash
And I set about
Giving orders and interdicting

     II
Your healing breath
Touched the ailing air
And made it well
It was the very thing
That afflicted me

     III
The hand of the man on the throne
The sceptre in the other
Kingship is all shortness of breath
And a twinge of pain

     IV
My hand that has seen everything
Out of awe kept the secret
Of its slippage
On the roundness of the world
It was my reckless breath
That spread the blaze

     V
There will remain
After breath has ploughed my body
And scattered it
The memory of a hand that held on
To the miracle of touching
The bird of paradise’s wing

     VI
Beneath your radiant breathings
The night rests
From the work of darkness

     VII
The universe is under the mercy
Of your breath
The mighty are shrinking

     VIII
Before
Or after
Your breath
Nothing was

     IX
What attar is this!
Your breath, for sure,
Has been taking the air
In these parts

Translated by Ibrahim Muhawi

Page(s) 217-218

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