The Serpent Tree Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen           1. When I had started crawling, Then walking little by little, I climbed the childhood tree With happy eyes Looking upwards to joy of apples And the joy of bananas. I went up and up And my grandmother's prayer Pushed me high and high. Suddenly my grandmother died, So I fell, Alas, From the childhood tree. 2. My fall continued year by year, But I did not get to the ground. I was light, as the dream said. I was light enough to fall on another tree. It was called the love tree. I climbed it with happy eyes Looking upwards to the pleasure of apples Because apples are the fruit of love as legend says. Suddenly, My sweetheart got lost, My sweetheart's kisses And my sweetheart's dates. So I fell, Alas, From the love tree. 3. I was expecting that my fall would be extremely noisy Because the love tree was as high as the heaven. But in spite of spending years falling, I did not arrive on the earth. Perhaps because I was happy, as the joke said. Perhaps because I was happy enough To fall on a third tree. It was called the death tree. 4. This time, The problem was serious. Because the death tree did not like jokes, Did not like childhood or love. It was a funny tree: It was as long as hell And its leg was as smooth as the serpents' skin. There were no colorful fruits in its top, So I could not look upwards in to it With happy eyes and a naive heart. Death tree- As it was said to me- Was inhabited by regret, Was inhabited by the angels Or by the black bells Or by the serpents. And it was said... But certainly, I climb it every day For many years On my way to regret Or to the angels Or to the black bells Or the serpents.             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^     All rights reserved       جميع الحقوق محفوظة Biography    Poems    Pictures    News    Home   Connect    Criticism