“I buried your face, someplace
by the side of the new road
so I would not trip over it
every morning or on evening strolls still, I am helplessly drawn
to the scene of this crime
for fear of forgetting
the sum of your splendor then there’s also the rain
that loosens the soil
to reveal a bewitching feature
awash with emotion an eye, perhaps tender or
a pale, becalmed cheek
a mouth tight with reproach or
lips pursed in a deathless smile other times you are inscrutable
worse, is when I seem to lose you
and pick at the earth like a scab
frantic, and faithful, like a dog.”

"Cairo" online at ditch, the poetry that matters http://www.ditchpoetry.com/yahialababidi.htm <p>