The puzzle of the sun’s longing for
the sea
The marvel: her love fills the sky overflows the rim till the
sea is one
with the sky
The sun like Dido in flames
melts into the water
in a hiss that breaks waves into bubbles into shards which return
with the waves
Mirrors tremble with visions shattered pieces of water and she
cries Sea O
Sea
He weeps she bleeds
his tears her blood the price they pay so water is not ever parted
from water
Streaming the seven heavens merge evening after evening
and the sea
again overflows.
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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