What If My Blood Sweetened Into Chocolate by Sawsan Al-Areeqe

What if

time cast its candle into a pit of winds

And night extended beyond the brow

And wearily the sea hugged the shore

And light faltered during the celebrations

And I embraced a man’s shadow

What if

The city departed for another planet

And children regained their angelic wings

And ballot boxes were abandoned

So the seats of power collapsed

And my

Blood

Sweetened

Into

Chocolate

What if

All meanings piled up in the streets

And poetry ventured unveiled

Within earshot of those who would wag fingers

Within sight of the hunters’ traps

Stirring up the checkpoints

Where guards would search for free poetry

At the borders of the unconscious

What if

The evening rained gold

And all government posts were abolished

And true democracy emerged

And time unwound

And I wore my grandmother’s glasses

What

If