Your Body Is My Map

By Nizar Qabbani

raise me more love... raise me my prettiest fits of madness O daggers journey... in my flesh and knifes plunge... sink me further my lady... the sea calls me add to me more death ... perhaps as death slays me... Im revived your body is my map... the world's map no longer concerns me... I am the oldest capital of sadness... and my wound a Pharaonic engraving my pain.... extends like an oil patch from Beirut... to China... my pain... a caravan...dispatched by the Caliphs of "AChaam"... to China... in the seventh century of the "Birth"... and lost in a dragons mouth... bird of my heart... "naysani" O sand of the sea, and forests of olives O taste of snow, and taste of fire... my heathen flavor, and insight I feel scared of the unknown... shelter me I feel scared of the darkness... embrace me I feel cold... cover me up tell me children stories... rest beside me... Chant to me... since from the start of creation Ive been searching for a homeland to my forehead... for a womans hair... that writes me on the walls... then erases me... for a womans love... to take me to the borders of the sun... and throws me... from a womans lip... as she makes me like dust of powdered gold... shine of my life. my fan my lantern. declaration of my orchards stretch me a bridge with the scent of oranges... and place me like an ivory comb... in the darkness of your hair... then forget me I am a drop of water... ambivalent remaining in the notebook of October your love crushes me... like a mad horse from the Caucasus throwing me under its hoofs... and gargles with the water of my eyes... add to me more fury... add to me O prettiest fits of my madness for your sake I set free my women and effaced my birth certificate and cut all my arteries...

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Poem Details

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Analysis & Notes:

This poem is a profound exploration of the themes of love, madness, pain, and identity. The speaker's voice is impassioned, and there is a strong sense of urgency and desperation throughout the piece. Their love is described in terms of madness and destruction, suggesting its intensity and potentially harmful effects. The references to daggers, knives, and wounds serve to underscore the pain and suffering associated with this love.

The poem's structure is free verse, allowing for a fluid and dynamic expression of emotion. The repeated refrain "raise me more love... raise me" and "add to me" acts as a plea to the beloved, emphasizing the speaker's longing and desire. The use of ellipses throughout the poem creates a halting rhythm, reflecting the speaker's tumultuous emotional state.

The poem is rich in imagery and metaphor, which serve to convey the speaker's experiences and emotions in a vivid and evocative manner. The speaker's identity is closely tied to their pain, which is described as extending "like an oil patch from Beirut... to China". This suggests a sense of universality and timelessness to their suffering. The speaker also identifies themselves as "the oldest capital of sadness", further reinforcing the depth and extent of their emotional pain.

Lastly, the speaker's relationship with the beloved is characterized by a sense of loss and oblivion. The beloved is asked to "place me like an ivory comb... in the darkness of your hair... then forget me". This request for oblivion is paradoxical, as it suggests both a craving for intimacy and a desire for annihilation. The poem ends on a note of sacrifice and surrender, with the speaker giving up their identity and existence for the sake of love.