With burning eyes
she rose before dusk
the mountains beneath her
and all the hills
filling like window panes with liquid suns
In this hour
she lights her towers
like candles
or perhaps after blessing the fire
she has raised her hands
to cover her face with light
Co-translated by the poet and Agha Shahid Ali
Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller is the author of Ha’isha Beme’il Sagol (The Woman in the Purple Coat), Kan Gam Bakayitz Hageshem Yored (Here, Even in the Summer It Rains), and Mehalekhet al Khut shel Mayim (Pacing on a Thread of Water).
Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001) was born in New Delhi and grew up in Kashmir. He published more than ten volumes of poems and translations during his lifetime, including Rooms Are Never Finished, a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001.
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