My husband,
See how the red and the yellow
Smear your forehead
With valor.
And your eyes
Turn black with desire
To vanquish the foe.
Your sword shines steel
A glint in the sun,
Your helmet is plumed
With the feathers of the peacock
Blue-green and gold.
Your body is anointed
with sandal paste
perfumed with
the incense
of a hundred lamps
lit at night
already
proclaiming your glory.
What do you have to fear?
My feet are black
With the dust
Of destruction.
I lick dry lips
And wonder at the taste
Of ash,
Grey in my mouth.
I ride my steed hard
To return home
To be with you,
my wife.
All I can see
Is the river-red
Of blood
I let flow
In the battlefield.
I have won darkness for myself.
This is what I fear.
Do not anoint me for war anymore.
My tears are falling.
****
First published in Arabesques Review
Posts
