You Said It’s a Grape

translated by Ali Alizadeh and John Kinsella

You said: “It’s a grape.” I said: “That’s not clear.”
You insisted: “Believe me! Every year
I harvest a branch. This is the garden of history,
We pick the few grapes these vines bear…”

Your hand moved; you were plucking grapes…
I said: “My religion has no place for humour.”
You said: “Close your eyes, open your mouth
So that I can quench my thirst on your anger.”

I did so, and cried out: “Agghhh! It’s salty!”
The bloody taste made me gag, brought nausea.
I spat it out: an eye landed on a tree stump!
It seemed the weight of ruins collapsed on my shoulders.
Rain of blood fallen from my moon and angels:
Horizon spread across my sight like Asia.

You were saying: “It’s a grape…” And I was screaming:
“I see nothing but eyes upon the vines here!”