'First Poems' by Adonis — Truth / Beauty

'First Poems' — fresh outpourings of radiant free verse — appears at the beginning of February, by the poet Adonis. From it we pick out two poems for our readers, by way of a foretaste!

For whom does the dawn open the window of my eyes
and carve its road above my ribs?
For whom does my soul cling fast to the thorns
and my wounds boil
like an earthquake, like a conflagration?
Why does death seep through the whole of my being
and bind my life to the wing of the minute,
beating out the seconds?
I have come to know: my blood is mercy to time,
and on my lips the truth is fought out.

Whenever it crosses my mind
to see beauty dawn,
and the twilight calls me,
the roads fade away beneath my steps.