Rural Poems is one of Charbel Baini's books translated from Arabic into English

Blood of Eternity


...And I drank cups from the blood of eternity,

After which I became intoxicated,

And I began to laugh.

I trampled on bliss with my feet,

And disfigured its face with drunkenness.

I fell asleep on a stone,

It is said to be a meteorite...

I smelled its scent: amber!

I tasted it,

But I found no taste in it!

And when I woke up,

I found my head on the arm of my beloved. 

I don't care who I am,

As long as I don't know how to live!

I flash... then disappear.

I thunder...

And fall silent like sorrow.

A cloud of loss envelops me!!

**