Withdraw your sky and your wall

By Lyrikline Collaboration Poets

Published 1 January 2021

By Abdouldalm Ukwas
Translated by Tim Heffernan & Haider Catan

Mention your death in the faces of silent people,

and do not pass.

As clouds above a desert town

do not pass.

Like water on the aridity of story, climb

in the path of yourself.

Free and free!

And withdraw your shroud from the shadows of the dead

Collect your sky from the birds of the fallen people

then fly higher and higher; you are not you

if you loved but did not fight for love.

The door in you, your steps and the path

Moses in you.

The water in you.

And the stone.

The sea is behind you, and forward you flee.

Death is behind you, and forward you flee.

Run with your dream

from the wanderer’s path

to settle in to

the throne of yourself, as master.

Free and free!