First chastity.. Refik Martinović

 

 Do you remember
 when we were chasing the nineteenth heaven
 on the wings of wind and clouds
 who accepted our game
 in which we breathed the scent of acacia
 and the first awakenings
 ramparts over the city
 and bathed in the dew with wet hands
 chasing awakened chastity
 not to hurt immature love.

 You were my thought
 and a magical world
 from A Thousand and One Nights
 into which you entered through secret passages
 and fell asleep on sighs
 early morning flowers
 which we selflessly shared
 with villas from the parks
 which weaved us a fairy tale.

 We loved the long walks
 hours without counting
 and silence along the long shores
 of the old city gap
 who hid in the shadows
 leaning houses
 which hid lovers
 and kept their secrets
 from selfish views.

 You ... you might have wanted to
 a different story
 to make our love insolent
 selfish ... aristocratic
 as well as all great loves
 framed on library shelves
 ... to be a gift from the gods
 ... or the knightly struggles of a poet
 which are for the night of love
 defended the male part
 ... or maybe you wanted to
 to suffer and cry
 anyway ... male
 as no one has cried yet.

 You're still asleep
 on the chest of my sighs
 while sorrow leaks through the cracks
 innocent chastity
 and speak your name
 which I wrote
 still in another grammar school
 on an acacia tree
 in the park next to our bench
 one October
 when I sent the birds away
 and waited for the autumn rain
 when our walks
 left empty-handed
 to wait for the maturation of love.