Best of Nizar Qabbani

Poem Title : When I Love
When I love
I feel that I am the king of time
I possess the earth and everything on it
and ride into the sun upon my horse.
***
When I love
I become liquid light
invisible to the eye
and the poems in my notebooks
become fields of mimosa and poppy.
***
When I love
the water gushes from my fingers
grass grows on my tongue
when I love
I become time outside all time.
***
When I love a woman
all the trees
run barefoot toward me...

Poem Title : A Lesson In Drawing
My son places his paint box in front of me
and asks me to draw a bird for him.
Into the color gray I dip the brush
and draw a square with locks and bars.
Astonishment fills his eyes:
"... But this is a prision, Father,
Don't you know, how to draw a bird?"
And I tell him: "Son, forgive me.
I've forgotten the shapes of birds."
***
My son puts the drawing book in front of me
and asks me to draw a wheatstalk.
I hold