Dark Verse

I CLOSE MY EYES

I close my eyes to silent cries,
A world of pain I cannot face,
In shadowed depths, I find no grace,
The darkness grows before my eyes.

A heavy cloak of somber hue,
Is fading light forever true?
From solace, my weary spirit flies.

A hollow echo in the air,
A silent, desperate, whispered prayer,
To shun the hurt behind my guise.

I seek a haven, cool and dim,
Though shadows at the edges swim,
Is there life without hope’s sunrise?

A barren field, a frozen stream,
A fractured and forgotten dream,
Where even stars have met demise.

A heavy weight upon my soul,
Beyond all reason or control,
And naught remains but tear-filled eyes.

And naught remains but tear-filled eyes,
The silent anguish swells in me,
A prisoner of apathy,
I close my eyes to all that dies.

©Habib Dabajeh

SLEEPY EYES

Inside this cold cabin, I strike a match,
And light a few scented candles for you.
I toss a few more logs into the fire,
To warm some thoughts and pull me through.

My eyes suddenly grow weary from the smoke;
Both are hypnotized by the ember’s melody.
Overcome with a chill, I’m back in your arms,
And the warmness of your body embracing me.

The moon comes overhead, so full of grace.
The fireflies glow and embellish the night.
As candles burn and flicker off the walls,
I’m bathed by your eyes and your tender light.

Fierce winds begin to whistle and moan,
And on the roof, the gentle rains start.
The sweetest of sounds filled the night,
But it’s your laughter that fills my heart.

The owls begin their nightly opera,
As crickets cry, trying to mimic me.
My heart suspended between hope and despair,
And now my ears are filled with a crow’s eulogy.

To the cold and black embers, I open my eyes,
And to melted candle wax, and a still silence of pain.
I softly cry out for you, but I’m all alone;
So I close my eyes to find you again.

©Habib Dabajeh

TEARS WON’T STOP

Under the bright, populous dome above,
I raise one last, hopeless prayer.
Here I stand, enslaved by your love,
As I wander through this frozen desert of despair.
I offered my heart to you as a token,
And deciphered the language you dreamt of.
Your legacy remains and can never be broken;
When from my lips your name is spoken.
On this brisk night, as the piercing wind blows,
The full moon blushed as it slowly rose.
It spread its beautiful smile over a frozen field,
But its beauty did not assuage my heart’s woe.
I stood there shivering, refusing to yield,
To the blistering winds and the falling snow.
My boggled mind attempted to compose,
All the sadness that my heart quietly concealed.
I wanted to bleed my words of love to show,
How from your beautiful eyes came all this prose;
And the forthcoming tears that you will never know.
A slow death would have been kinder to me,
When you walked away and I was dismissed.
My heart was stricken and ceased to exist,
But the sad verses continued incessantly.
Tonight, I hoped I could somehow start
A few sad lines for you, but my mind froze up.
As poetry fades and vacates my heart,
I hear the crows wail and watch the moon drop.
I’m alone and cold, and the tears won’t stop.

©Habib Dabajeh

EMPTY HEART

When in beauty the moon is high-
Bathing with kisses the calm sea,
And heaven is tranquil under a starry sky,
Knowing the angels are circling above me-
I sing out pretending to whisper into your ear,
And my silly heart sighs, believing you’re near.

When I’m awakened to the morning cry
Of a restless songbird in the tree,
And a soft breeze taunts a butterfly,
As it struggles and fights to break free-
I reach out my hands to stroke your hair
And kiss your cheek, but you’re not there.

When my heart sings and starts to race,
As I gaze upon a summer rose-
My only thoughts are of your face;
It’s where my eyes roamed, as I held you close.
And I weep, as I stare out across the plain,
The road seems endless as my endless pain.

With little solace, I praise all beauty in view,
The miracles of day and the splendor of night;
But nothing I witnessed can compare to you-
Nothing in creation I found that bears your light!
I send the wind looking for you, told it your name,
Bearing my apologies, but, alas! You never came.

Devoid and lifeless, I gaze to the sky of dreams,
And made a wish for every star I see-
But if it were a billion more, how hopeless it seems
To wail and rant for what can never be!
Oh! To wish is truly hopeless! To dream is a pain!
The unceasing prayers of an empty heart, all in vain!

©Habib Dabajeh

REALM OF SLUMBER

A cloak so dark drapes
Across my weary soul tonight,
And mirrors the vast expanse
Between her and I, a desolate sight.

In the quiet solitude,
The world fades to a muted, somber grey,
I am left to wander through the ruins
Of a love that slipped away.

Her eyes, twin pools of moonlight,
Reflect a tenderness I yearn to know,
A connection forged in whispers,
A love that endlessly seems to grow.

But the dawn arrives with cruel indifference,
Shattering the ephemeral grace,
And I awaken to the chilling truth
Of her unyielding and unreadable face.

Her love for me, a ghost story,
Whispered on the wind, forever out of reach,
Leaving me stranded on a desolate shore,
Beyond the comfort of her gentle speech.

The waking world is cold and withered,
A constant reminder of what cannot be,
A barren landscape stretching into darkness,
Where hope refuses to take root in me.

I long to taste the nectar of her affection,
To bask within its golden light,
But I am kept outside the garden walls,
Shrouded in the lonely, endless night.

Sleep is all I crave, a sanctuary
From the pain that grips my heart so tight,
A temporary reprieve where fantasy replaces
The harsh and unforgiving light.

For in the realm of slumber,
I can hold her and whisper words of deep desire,
And pretend, just for a little while,
That her heart burns with the same consuming fire.

©Habib Dabajeh

THAT CLOUDY DAY

Do you ever think on that cloudy and dreadful day,
When the rains fell like tears from a grieving sky?
I stood in the storm, lost in shades of gray,
As you turned your back, like a ship set to fly.

The thunder rumbled, a mournful lament,
Yet you walked away, a silhouette in the haze.
I was anchored in sorrow, too tangled to vent,
While you danced with the raindrops, as if in a daze.

How cruel the irony, this fate we both chose,
To part in the tempest, while love’s fire burned low.
You glided away like smoke when the swirling flame rose,
While I stood like a statue, unmoved by the flow.

Your laughter once echoed, a melody sweet,
But now it was lost in the patter of rain.
Each drop was a memory, a bittersweet beat,
A symphony played on the strings of my pain.

I watched the wind caress the locks of your hair,
In that fleeting moment, your spirit was free.
But I, with my heart wrapped in sorrow and care,
Was bound to the ground, unable to flee.

The clouds seemed to mock me, their shadows like chains,
As I whispered your name to the sorrowful night.
You never looked back; the silence remains,
A chasm between us, a heart out of sight.

For love, oh sweet love, was a tempest in bloom,
Yet I stood in the stillness, a prisoner of fate.
While you chased the horizon, consumed by the gloom,
I became just a memory, an echo, a weight.

So here I remain on this melancholy shore,
Where the rains fell like tears and the skies weep for me.
Do you ever think of that day, evermore?
Or has love become but a ghost on the sea?

Yet in dreams, I shall wander where sunlight shall play,
And imagine your laughter, a bright, tender beam.
For though you walked away on that cloudy, dreadful day,
In my heart, forever, you linger—a dream.

©Habib Dabajeh

UNDAUNTED

Your love in my heart gave me solace;
Now I’m broken, and despair binds me.
I’m missing the smile that once lit your face,
But here I stand undaunted and fettered free.

Now and then, I think of your smile;
The way you looked with eyes so blue.
Cold darkness fills my heart, yet all the while,
I stand undaunted thinking of you.

Dark clouds gather, and I see no light
To guide me without a hand to hold.
It’s high noon, but it’s my darkest night,
And I walk undaunted as the thunder rolled.

Adding to the misery of pebbles in my shoes,
The freezing rain fell and soaked my cold feet.
My eyes were tempted, but did not diffuse;
As I laugh undaunted at my self-conceit.

A relentless wind suddenly blows in.
The wet leaves begin to scatter everywhere.
As coldness pierces through my shivering skin,
I stood undaunted in the unforgiving air.

To the discomfort of my resounding ears,
The uncanny cries of distant crows
Only induce further my swollen fears,
But I stood undaunted in my darkest throes.

On my way back home with tired feet,
Trenches filled my path wherever I stepped.
A bird called her lover, with a song so sweet,
And I succumbed, and fell to my knees and wept.

©Habib Dabajeh

WHAT IS DESPAIR

I often ask, what is true despair?
Is it a bird with a broken wing;
That gazes sadly from a bough,
As other birds flutter and sing?

Oppressed and alone am I,
Like that dead tree in a shroud of gloom,
That dies weeping for her fallen leaves,
There in the midst of a meadow in full bloom.

I too have seared in my days,
Like that moth that waits patiently all day,
Then coaxed to the candle unwillingly by night,
Only to burn cruelly, and then wither away.

I wonder and ponder to no avail,
Like a lone rain cloud searching in vain
For that one drop that fell to the sea;
Believing that same drop will return again.

Unseen beauty have I been denied,
Much like a blind man trying to forget
The sighs and gasps coming from a crowd
That have gathered to watch the sunset.

Oh, there was a time not long ago
I used to raise my head to the Friend.
I would plead in vain with hands raised high,
But all I heard was laughter in the wind.

Now I’m torn and must concede:
That despair is trying in vain to cope
With the sudden death inside the heart;
When that which died inside is hope.

©Habib Dabajeh

I WISH

I wish I could rewind that magical spring,
As I kissed your lips and made you sigh.
To lie next to you, and hear your heart sing;
I only dream of it now, and it makes me cry.

To bathe your body once more with wine,
Using the soft petals of a summer rose.
To feel that body pressed against mine,
As I verse your beauty with endless prose.

I wish we were lying beneath the starry sky,
Like lovers that gaze without having to speak.
To see once again that sparkle in your eye,
As my lips softly trace your blushing cheek.

There was the wind that played in your hair,
And the nightingale that sang for us that night.
The night you were ungarbed dancing on air,
As your body softly quivered in the moonlight.

To lay once more upon your warm breast,
And listen to the laughter of your soul.
If only my heart could find peace and rest,
And let you go, but that’s beyond my control.

I wish you never uttered that lame excuse;
It shattered my spirit and vexed my mind.
I wish your heart never had to choose,
But a choice was made, and I was left behind.

Verses continue to feed my heart love’s pain;
But this is my life now, what more can I do?
Like an endless longing, dismal and in vain,
I bleed this poetry that all sprang from you.

©Habib Dabajeh

WINTRY MOON

I rose one dawn
And you were gone;
You left me in a strange world I can’t bear.
Alone in the gloom
Of your vacant room,
The sweet scent of you still fills the air.

I step out half dismayed,
Alone and afraid,
To grasp this new world without you.
Oppressed is me,
Who will never see,
A loving mother with a heart so true.

The sun of day
Melts the stars away,
And proudly boasts its glory and light.
The moon doesn’t heed,
Refusing to concede,
And remains like a pearl so fair and bright.

I notice its glow
On a field of snow,
And I’m reminded of your smiling face.
It reigns supreme
Over mountains and stream,
But does not eclipse your beauty and grace!

Beneath its light,
You once held me tight,
And vowed with a kiss never from me to part.
With bleary eyes,
I now gaze at the skies,
And call out to you as the tears start.

But, all too soon,
The bathing moon,
Must bid this sighing heart adieu.
I lift a weary eye
To the dawning sky,
Hoping and praying to finally dream of you.

How lonely my life
And this ongoing strife-
I was never prepared for a world without you.
I watch the moon drop
And hear my heart stop—
Now the moon has left me, too!

©Habib Dabajeh

EMISSARY

I sent the nightingale as an emissary,
To sing the songs I once sang to you.
In her beak, I placed some love verses,
And off to your heart, it excitedly flew.

I kissed that tiny beak and sent her off;
I hope she finds her way to your heart.
I remain here languishing in your absence.
All blear-eyed and my soul ripped apart.

When you greet my messenger, do not fear
Should she approach your heart and despair.
I told her to lean upon your chest and listen,
To my unceasing cries still echoing there.

©Habib Dabajeh

WHISPERS IN THE SHADOWS

Oh, I have much to say, but I do not dare;
My heart overflows, a weight on my chest.
With every silent thought, I’m tangled in despair,
And I find myself yearning and aching for rest.

When I dare to whisper, the world holds its breath,
And a fear grips my spirit, my voice can’t align.
Each secret that I utter is like a dance of death,
And the world pauses where shadows entwine.

The clock on the mantle ticks loud in the night,
Echoing my worries, amplifying my fears.
What if the truth is too sharp, and broad as daylight?
What if my secrets break hearts, leave them in tears?

Beneath the thick layers of silence I wear,
Lies a melody aching, a symphony so sweet.
Oh, the stories I carry, so heavy to bear,
Like treasures forgotten, lost under defeat.

Once, I stood fearless, a warrior bold,
But the winds of the past have shifted and swayed.
I had a laughter like thunder and a spirit of gold,
Now shadows loom large where once I had played.

I think of the moments when courage ran free,
When every word spoken felt so right.
But life has a way, and there is fate’s decree,
With doubts and with darkness, it darkens the light.

I hear the soft murmurs of souls long since gone,
“Speak out,” they beckon, “Let your truth soar!”
Their laughter, their wisdom, like a haunting song;
It comforts the heart and beckons my spirit to explore!

Yet here I remain, ensnared in my mind,
A captive of echoes that drives love away.
Truth and common sense, the ties that bind,
Are like storms of resentment and bring forth the fray.

In a world full of faces that wear veils so thin,
I wonder if anyone has felt his soul in thrall.
The longing for freedom, the compulsion for sin;
Who stand defiantly on the edge, yet scared of the fall.

I think of the moments when passion ignites,
When hearts speak in truths, and spirits shout.
The world appears reborn and paints vivid sights,
But here in the shadows, I wrestle with doubt.

With a quivering heart, I take a deep breath,
And I gather my courage, and ponder my fears;
For the price of this silence I suffer a slow death,
As I lay myself back down in silence and tears.

©Habib Dabajeh

DARKENED SKY

On a cold and eerie night, I flew—
Carried on the wings of empty dreams.
My heart pounded as my curiosity grew,
Drawn to the uncanny scenes and distant screams.

Black crows filled the darkened sky,
Singing with a sad and dreadful shrill.
I had no voice, only a distraught sigh,
Wondering if life was mine I still.

No hope can mend the heart that grieves.
No prayers can illuminate the darkened sky.
Upon a tomb, are scattered leaves,
Where friends gather to wail and cry.

©Habib Dabajeh

WE MUST PART

My love story, how can I tell?
Can one describe the torment of hell?
These sad poems will soon reach your heart.
You, who caused my sorrows to swell,
When you uttered, “We must part.”
My broken heart’s sorrows are deep.
Longing for you, my eyes forgo sleep.
Yet amidst the shadows, true hope will persist,
As memories of our love insist.
Though the pain lingers, I’ll find solace in dreams,
Where our hearts reunite in moonlit streams.

©Habib Dabajeh

CLOUDS

The sun is out, I think it’s day.
How bright it shines, I cannot say.
To look out the window, I do not dare;
I know dark clouds are looming there.

A silent tear as I painfully recall
All the smiles that light this wall.
Those endless smiles of youth and grace,
But now only frowns scar this face.

The birds call out, I know they’re near,
Singing those songs I long to hear.
I crack my window and heard one bird say,
“Be silent now, maybe he’ll go away!”

And now my eyes were flushed red;
More burning tears fell as my heart bled.
How bleak it is now to look upon a tree,
And find no song there waiting for me.

The night falls, and in darkness, I lay;
If the stars are countless, I cannot say.
Hidden behind clouds, they must be few.
If the moon is out, it’s hiding, too.

I gaze at my shelf for a random book,
And light a candle to have a look.
I turned to Longfellow’s “Rainy Day,”
And the grey-haired one began to say:

“Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining.
Thy Fate is the common Fate of all;
Into each life, some rain must fall…..”

I put down the book, and decide to pray.
Will the clouds ever clear, I cannot say.

©Habib Dabajeh

HEART NECKLACE

I made a necklace to adorn your heart,
And used beads from all the worlds.
Ending it was the hardest part,
Because your beauty required the sweetest pearls.

To the fullest extent of my mind,
I poured out both my heart and tongue.
I hope you treasure what I have designed,
This pearly necklace with tears strung.

©Habib Dabajeh

ECHOES OF ABSENCE

In every year, a hollow echo lies,
A haunting whisper in the silent night.
The moments pass beneath the weary skies,
Yet none can fill the void you left in flight.

Each dawn breaks gently, casting muted hues,
But colors fade; their brilliance is lost to time.
The world continues, yet I stand bemused,
For in your absence, joy becomes a crime.

I trace the paths where laughter used to bloom,
But shadows linger where the light once danced;
The seasons change, yet still, I sense the gloom,
As memories of you hold me entranced.

In sorrow’s grasp, your beauty softly sighs,
A rose you are in essence, deep and pure.
But with every glance, my aching heart dies,
And I struggle in your glow to find a cure.

Your skin, a whisper, softer than the dawn,
Adorned with hues that blush in summer’s breeze;
Yet tangled thoughts of loss and love are drawn,
For in my heart, your memory stirs unease.

Your eyelashes flutter, as dreams start to flee;
You stretch like the morning, unfurling your grace.
How cruel these dreams that keep on beckoning me,
Only to retreat from my heart and shield your face.

Time sweeps away the years that stretch and bend,
And roses wither away, as moments slip like sand.
How strange, this fragile marvel I have penned,
A bloom so rare is not bound by time’s cruel hand;

My love, a rose, a marvel that silence speaks,
But the thorns of fate have pierced my tender heart.
As the warmth of the sun kisses her blushing cheeks,
In comes the dawn, and with the dawn, dreams depart.

Oh, I wish away the day and beg the night to come,
To admire your beauty again and wonder why,
Why the dawn disrupts our romance, and I succumb,
And surrender myself back to reality and die.

©Habib Dabajeh

A WINTER PLEA

Am I even in your thoughts on this cold night,
While bitter winds howl secrets through the trees,
As the chill of winter bites with all its might,
My fragile spirit finds no inner peace?

As coldness bites my bones, and tears smear my face,
Do echoes of our laughter reach your ear,
And in the darkness, do you find a trace
Of memories that once held us so dear?

Do you still think of me, perhaps a brief moment,
A fleeting spark of what we used to share,
Or have the gentle feelings left you dormant,
And now you walk a path without a care?

Have you found warmth in someone else’s embrace,
To keep you warm and tug you in with a kiss,
And have the nights with me been put to waste,
And all the tears and poems you quickly dismiss?

My heart, a frozen field, begins to wane,
While I am left with this melancholic plight.
And the cruel wind whispers your forgotten name,
As I’m engulfed in a cold shiver of your spite.

The silent hours tick by in my lonely bed,
And hope now fades like embers in the grate,
As I lay awake with this constant dread,
A wistful ache seals tight my solemn fate.

©Habib Dabajeh

DO YOU REMEMBER?

You remember blowing me the first kiss?
Then turning away with blushing cheeks?
How could I have fallen into a love like this?
Even when you’re silent, your heart speaks.

You remember the night you sang to me,
And made my heart quiver and rejoice?
The nightingale awoke, and perched silently,
Just gazing and listening to your sweet voice.

You remember when you playfully tickled me,
And smothered me in your warm embrace?
Your appeared all aglow, shining so brightly,
And all I could do is stare at your face.

Do you ever think on that cloudy and dreadful day,
When the rains fell and you left me standing there?
I stood in tears and watched you walk away,
You never even looked back for one final stare.

You kept on walking and I just stood there,
And was too tongue tied to voice my dissent.
I only watched the wind playing in your hair,
And prayed it would deliver to me one final scent.

This heart is all damped in sadness, but it copes;
It once bloomed like a garden tended by you.
It’s withered now, like a grave of buried hopes;
No light, no birdsongs, no scents, no hue.

©Habib Dabajeh

HOPELESS

When life gets mellow, a tear will start
To bring to light a sweet memory.
We sit and ponder with a bleeding heart,
But time will not rescind Fate’s decree.

We neglected them alive, now mourn them dead.
We wail and weep on hands and knees.
We deferred saying what needed to be said,
As time mocks the heart, and hope flees.

©Habib Dabajeh

OH, BLESSED DREAMS!

I watched the soft wind enchanting a tree,
And I learned how to carefully undress you.
I observed how the moonbeams kiss the sea,
And my lips now yearn to kiss and caress you.

I hear sweet song birds welcoming the dawn,
And just as your eyes open, I’m singing to you.
The sun rises, and the moon and stars have gone
Back home into your eyes, and I’m clinging to you.

O blessed dreams! How bittersweet this deception.
In my creative mind, how I secretly conceal you!
Whenever my heart aches and I have no perception,
I lay on my pillow to close my eyes and reveal you.

©Habib Dabajeh

SILENCED HARP

The curtain of night falls upon my heart.
The birds have bid farewell to the day.
A lonely songbird mourns in ecstasy.
The moon begins to climb in full array.

I gaze at the moon and force a smile.
I hear the songbird, and I sigh.
Beneath the stars, my thoughts are of you,
As a burning tear trickles from my eye.

This emptiness that now fills my heart,
As I recall the memories with joy and tears.
You left me adrift in a darkened world,
Where minutes pass like days and days like years.

I have only dreams and piercing memories,
As I bide my time and wither away.
Your Poetic Harp is left to gather dust;
The Harp You once cradled, and nevermore shall play.

©Habib Dabajeh

WAILING HEART

I

As birds rise to greet the day,
From dreams of you, I rise to hear
Their sweet songs fill my ear,
And their voice is ever pleasing.
Not knowing my pain, to me they pray
With songs of rapture never ceasing.

II

What can they know, but song and cheer?
How can they ever come to realize
This sad heart that bathed in your eyes?
They rise unburdened, joyous and free.
I rise and weep consumed by fear,
Pleading for what was, and never more shall be!

III

As the sun sets, the moon finds me
Where nature demands the heart to incite.
As stars circle the queen of the night,
She proudly upholds her throne of fame.
A nightingale perched in a nearby tree
Sighs deeply, as it calls out your name;

IV

I weep, knowing it will call all night in vain.
An owl grins down at me and shouts,
Asking for news of your whereabouts.
Oh, Love! All nature was in disarray!
Even the crickets sang out in pain
Asking for you, but what was I to say?

V

I came here to clear my thoughts of you.
With a wailing heart, I sought to find
The bliss of nature for the tormented mind.
And what I saw were roses so fair,
Dancing and smiling on fields of dew,
But it was your face I pictured there!

VI

And tears from my eyes did start,
As the wind engaged bushes and trees,
And I heard your laughter in the breeze.
I then marveled at how the sea,
Calls each wave back into her heart,
And I wept, wishing you would call out to me.

VII

But for Your beauty, what did I know?
So lost am I from myself now,
That I sit beneath our favorite bough,
Overlooking that same garden fair,
Where we sowed our hopes for love to grow.
But, alas! I can only imagine you there!

VIII

In Your heart, I was bathed in pure light,
But now, like a moth, I call out your name
From hell’s darkness seeking your flame.
Oh, Love, who is as hopeless as I?
Like a candle, I weep for you all night,
And come the dawn, I melt and die.

©Habib Dabajeh

WINTRY NIGHT

On a bitterly cold and rain-soaked winter night,
As the chill seeped through the walls,
Each drop of rain fell like a relentless reminder of my despair;
I sought refuge beneath my warm blanket,
Nestled against my tear-stained pillow,
Damp with the weight of sorrow.
In the silence, hope flickered like a candle in the wind,
Though I knew deep down that all hope seemed to have fled.
I lay there, trapped in my own yearning, wishing fervently,
Longing to finally close my weary, heavy eyelids,
To drift away into a brief, peaceful slumber,
And wander through a blissful dream,
And to envision what may never come to pass.

©Habib Dabajeh

WITH EVERY BEAT

With every beat of my weak heart
I cherish the memories I had with you.
When sleep is over, the burning tears start,
And I sit and cry the whole day through.

I no longer feel and I do not see,
No warmth in life, and no beauty.
For you, my broken heart was always true,
Although your warm heart was cold to me.

The world spins on, yet I remain
Frozen in time when you were here.
Like wilted flowers in the rain,
My hopes dissolve year after year.

But still I keep your fading face
Locked deep within my memory’s core,
A treasure in this empty space
That echoes what we were before.

©Habib Dabajeh

WITHERED HEART

There is no longer a purpose in life,
Nor is there hope in this world of misery.
How sad my fate! Like a flake of snow
That falls inconspicuously to the sea.

What little joy I had has fled from me,
Without laughter, how can the heart bear?
I recall a time when my heart would cry out,
And I’d listen, and hear you laughing there.

What did I know, but your enchanting beauty?
You are a vision of light to outward view.
The miracles of creation before me lay,
But none I deem more worthy of you!

You left my life to haunt my dreams.
You seared my heart and left me in dismay.
The dawn breaks, but you are not in my heart-
What right had the sun to brighten this day?

The same morning songs greet a new day,
But in my darkened heart, there is no light.
From my window, I gaze at the sky in vain,
Like a wingless bird that longs for flight.

Where now is the angel that fled this heart?
How blessed the arms that hold you now!
With sadness, I recall our pledge in the garden,
And the sweet kiss that sealed the vow.

Oh, the fairest and most mystical flower
That once bloomed before my eyes!
What miracle of the day could be as sweet?
What beauty of the night can dare symbolize?

Your eyes once showered me with sunshine.
Your body once sheltered me with shade.
In your heart, my joy was unsurpassed,
Now I’m lonely, distraught, and afraid.

Habib Dabajeh

WORLD WENT BLACK

I waited for you in the rain,
But you never showed.
The rain turned into snow,
And still, I waited in the cold.
Now, in the silence, I remain,
Hopelessly believing you will show.
The only thing I can hear
Is the whisper of the snow.
The cold wind didn’t help the pain,
Only a constant reminder in my ear,
That haunted me with whispers of woe.
My dried out eyes, no longer can drain
A single drop, not a single tear.
I stand bedazzled and no longer can see,
The betrayal that finally claimed me.

©Habib Dabajeh