A Night in Jericho (ليلٌ في اريحا)

By Ameer Hamad (tr. Gabrielle Alvarez)

The pool receded from the diver’s line

like a girl who froze, picking up her comb

because the camels of the afternoon smuggled away its waters

to beyond the sky

The silence fermented above us

the cricket tries to patch it with its wings

The fronds of the single palm tree

seem like the hair of the one who didn’t say goodbye

to catch the express train

A column of atmospheric pressure fixed upon the ground

makes the surface of the sea farther away

If you stare at moon wood

that no longer climbs from the windows of Hisham’s palace

you will hear the wave’s hooves

beating against the sulfur

on the rocks of the Dead Sea

not far from here.