Preliminary Sketch
Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah
The talk that remained in the house, when we went out,
remained alone
and agitated
pacing its domains
like a stubborn wolf.
The talk that remained on the bed
and between the chairs,
in the mutterings of the hallway,
on the oil painting
and in the dice:
whenever I’d come back from my office,
where I’d lose a new day and a tomorrow,
I used to see it searching
like the mad
for a gap in silence.
I’d watch it as it unintentionally killed off its offspring.
