After the Revels (2009)
Text:
After the Revels
When the wine he drank
put him to sleep and the eyes
of the watchmen closed also.
I approached him timidly
like one who seeks to come close,
but on the sly, pretending not to.
I crept toward him imperceptible
as a dream, moved myself close
to him, softly as a breath.
I kissed his throat, a white jewel,
drank the vivid red of his mouth,
and so passed my night with him
deliciously, until darkness smiled,
showing the white teeth of dawn.
—Ibn Shuhayd (992- 1034)
Translated by Cola Franzen