Abu Nuwas(c. 760 - before 816)

Wine and beautiful faces,

long nights spent entertaining those

from whose hands coins dropped

on a poet's palm,

witty lines to lighten up

the crowd in a tavern and a palace,

witty lines to remember

when the poet's path

diverted to jail.

In the end, shadows closing in

hid the the fate

like arrows hid al-Amin

under the waves.

18.08.2016