Dearest readers –

As you wait (so patiently!) for the Malichon Pentalogy, I will be bringing you sneak peeks and excerpts, and today’s is a poem written by one of the central characters. Poetry will be a recurring theme throughout the series, and this poem explores the analogy between the human beloved and the divine, a common motif in Sufi poetry.

-M

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Speak to me, beloved

Pour out ichor from your lips

That I may drink it like sweet wine

The garden is shrouded in darkness

Snow covers the reaching arm of the cypress

Sing to me of your face, beloved

For I am blinded by your brilliance

Weave for me a shroud of your dreams

And let them guide me to the promised dawn

Let me lay my head down among the crocus blossoms

And whisper promises to me

That none shall part us

That at the dawn you will guide me to your gardens

For others tell me of its wonders

They speak to me of its orchards

And still pools that reflect the glories of heaven

But the night is long, beloved

The moon has hidden her face

The stars are cloaked in shadows

My feet are pricked and I cannot see if my blood adorns roses or brambles

Sharp rocks litter the path

My mouth is stopped and I cannot cry out to the wind

Speak to me, beloved

Tell me that I walk in the gardens that were promised

Once you told me that I was the one for whom you longed

Speak to me

Sing to me of the gardens

For the night is ending

And I would steal away with beautiful lies in my heart

Rather than face dawn’s truth