"I cultivated silence like a rare plant
glimmer by glimmer
I deciphered the night
[...]
I mixed flesh with clay and with light
mixed breath with what was already breath
(...)
my shadow climbed a long path to reach me
one day I entered the house of language
I nested two birds where the heart ought to be
I crossed the poem's mirror and it crossed me
I trusted the spark of the word"
glimmer by glimmer
I deciphered the night
[...]
I mixed flesh with clay and with light
mixed breath with what was already breath
(...)
my shadow climbed a long path to reach me
one day I entered the house of language
I nested two birds where the heart ought to be
I crossed the poem's mirror and it crossed me
I trusted the spark of the word"
Amina Saïd (tr. Marilyn Hacker), from Path of Light; more of the poem
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