Canceled Out

by Imadeddin Nasimi

English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady
Original Language Persian/Farsi

Dawn:
the tavern:
I learned the inside way
from a licensed guide.

Old Man Love:
"Come in, come in:
don't loiter around
outside!"
Inside:
SPLENDOR
cups of pain.

The saki:
"Drink, drink!"
and he embraced me
light
so close...

SAKI/ME
both one
or one disguised
as two?
NOW WITNESS
NOW OBJECT-OF-SIGHT
NOW SAKI
NOW CUP...
Nothing remains:
I know nothing:
all HIM
Nasimi: canceled out
in the beauty
of the
seducer.

-- from The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady

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The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey



Canceled Out