Poetry: Ashraf AboArafe

My beloved…

The absence has grown long,
and my heart still counts its days by the hours of longing,
waiting at the window of dreams
for a shadow that might return warmth and life to what has been lost.

They say:

In this universe, there is everything that fills the heart with wonder…

There is the sweetness of rain when it whispers to the earth,
and the leaves of trees when they dance to the rhythm of the wind.

There are the stars of the sky when they shimmer in the eye of night,
and the full moon nights when the moon completes its light.

There is the blue of the seas,
the magic of rivers,
the sunrise breaking through clouds,
and the sunset bidding farewell to the horizon in a blush of longing.

There is the fragrance of flowers,
the colors of spring,
the singing of birds,
the murmur of streams,
the silence of dawn,
and the warmth of evening.

There are towering mountains,
vast deserts,
green meadows,
and wandering clouds across the sky of God.

There is the beauty of butterflies,
the scent of jasmine,
morning dew on branches,
and waves of the sea singing an ode of longing to the shore.

And I wander through the Seven Wonders of the World searching for you…

The Pyramids of Egypt stand as a witness to eternity,
the Great Wall of China stretches like an endless dream,
the Taj Mahal weeps beauty on the banks of longing,
the Petra carved into stone preserves a memory that never fades,
the Colosseum echoes with the voice of history,
Chichen Itza gazes at the sky as if searching for you,
and Machu Picchu stands in silent majesty, like my waiting heart.

Yet none of these wonders…
can replace you for even a single moment.

There is love in the eyes of lovers,
loyalty in the hearts of the faithful,
and hope in the souls of those who wait.

And if the universe holds all these meanings,
and carries all this beauty…

How can this universe exist without you?

You are the rain when the earth is dry,
you are the rose when gardens wither,
you are the moon when the night grows dark,
you are the star guiding my heart when it is lost.

My beloved…

If the universe has a thousand meanings, you are its most beautiful one,
if life has a thousand faces, you are its brightest,
and if the heart has a homeland, you are my homeland.

I no longer see the universe as it was…
everything after you is incomplete,
and every beauty after you is broken.

My beloved…

The absence has grown long… so how long?

Has longing not yet found its homeland?
Has the heart not yet found its beloved?

Is it not time for joy to return to this life,
and for this yearning to rest upon the shoulder of reunion?

So return…

For my heart is tired of distances,
my soul is weary of absence,
and the entire universe still waits with me
for your return.