You… Are the Homeland of My Heart

You… yes, you,

Whenever you are absent from me, my lady,

I kindle a lantern of longing

upon the balconies of the clouds,

and I send my heart away,

a little boat

sailing across every horizon,

making its way toward your eyes,

searching every path

through mist and silence.

You are the heartbeat of my life…

And in your absence,

minutes stretch into endless years,

and the night becomes

a desert of waiting,

or a sky veiled with drifting clouds,

where nothing blossoms

except your gentle name,

guiding my soul like a sacred light.

Then, when your voice whispers,

springs of radiance burst forth within my spirit,

and upon the eyelashes of my heart

the golden ears of joy and serenity begin to dance,

while the universe once more

chants love’s most beautiful names.

So remain…

just as you are:

a moon no passing years

can ever dim,

a promise no length of time

can ever betray.

For you alone

are the poem that never reaches its final verse,

the homeland of my soul,

and the harbor

where every wave of peace finds its rest.

Driss Boukili El Hassani

Morocco