He Was Not Asleep
Ghassan Zaqtan
There is a downtrodden woman in his dream,
an introverted woman whose mind is occupied
with simple thoughts and needless virtues.
A woman who enters his room every time he falls asleep,
and stares at his heart,
directly at his heart,
then takes a flower from the vase and leaves
before he wakes to count the missing flowers.
