Arbër Selmani

Waiting For You At The City Mosque
(Poem translated from its original Albanian by Fadil Bajraj)

Waiting for you at the city mosque
between prayers and sins
come tell the Lord that you are smaller than Him  
you are the shame of my life.

Come and pray
say the prayers the Holy Book has taught you
at the entrance, take off the shoes
give the bread crumbs to that gipsy woman at the door,
walk in to the crowd of men
and approach
to find me.

Waiting for you at the city mosque
come and pray to Earth, pray to Sun, pray to animals
to every soul that bites you
I am in the first row
come and we’ll together
mention to the Almighty how weak you are
you, the great wound of love.

Waiting for you at the city mosque 
come to the temple, you evil worm
come fight against the time when you were a good man.
I opened the windows, imam is waiting for the rain
but I am waiting for you
the city is waiting for the song of salvation. 

Waiting for you at the city mosque
waiting for you to come
to understand each other for the first time. 

You should wear the green shirt, be the king of the Islamic religion
we look at domes, galleries, minarets,
you cry for yourself
I cry because I never cried.

Waiting for you at the city mosque
come on, even if you don’t love me
come on, you were quiet for so long
your mind had long fasted,
Come and tell to the Great One and to his companions
that good people are not today in this mosque.

Waiting for you at the city mosque
come, please, because I don’t love you either
we’ll bow on the clean velvet carpet
at the door, throw to the ground the idle talk that keeps you alive.

Sit next to me, and don’t curse the Creator.
Find me in peace, I’ll be there where the wretched man sits
come closer, don’t hold my hand,
shut your mouth, pray for yourself or for me,
I am waiting for you
In the last mosque of our two lives.