Dramatic Poetry: "After" Old Age
Original Poem
Buland al-Haidari is the author of the Arabic poem, Old Age.
Please read both and let me know what you think of my version.
My Version of "Old Age"
Another winter,
And here I am,
In this padded room,
Dreaming that man is dreaming of me,
That I might lay my head on his chest
And he would not laugh at my secrets;
Dreaming that even now,
I am on the outside on the wind,
And he would say:
This wind is mine alone;
No other man will ever feel it.
Here, in this padded room,
Another winter,
And here I am,
Believing in my dreams and fearing
They will never come true.
Thinking he might look and laugh at
My wild, insane head,
My melancholy, aged soul;
Thinking he will stomp on
My love,
And here, in this padded room,
I will be laughed at by that man.
Alone,
No love, no man, no dreams to hold,
Tomorrow I will die from this emptiness,
Here, in this padded room.