arabvoices_jz_otaiba (1)

"I am what you want: I am contemptible
The shoe shiner for the conquerors,
and the vendor of blood and conscience
for tyrants. I am a crow
feeding off the corpses of
chicken. I am destruction,
I am ruination!
The lip of the harlot
is more chaste than my heart,
and the wings of flies
are purer and warmer
than my hands. As you wish...
I am contemptible!
But my eyeballs have--if they
followed your steps and recognized
your features and trembling--two
needles
that will weave your trap
and the edges of the blood-soaked
coffin, and two coals
terrifying your sight, if not burn you!

Translation by As'ad Abu Khalil