I want to write different words for you

To invent a language for you alone

To fit the size of your body

And the size of my love

When I told you:

‘I love you’

I knew

I was leading a coup

Against the tribal law,

That I was tolling the bells of scandal.

I wanted to seize power

To increase the number of leaves

In the forests.

I wanted to make the oceans bluer

And the children more innocent.

I wanted to put an end to the savage age

And to kill the last Caliph.

It was my intention

When I loved you

To break down the doors of the harem

To protect women's breasts

From men's teeth:

So that their nipples could

Dance in the open air with delight

When I said:

‘I love you!’

I knew

I was inventing a new alphabet

For a city which does not read,

I was reciting my poems

In an empty hall,

And I was offering wine

To those who did not know

The joys of drunkenness.