Scheherazade Poem by Janina Degutyte

The thousand and one nights
Of insidious, snake-like delays...
The thousand and one nights
Of prisons and fairy tales. -
Talk, Scheherazade... The sultan is listening.
Your executioners are close by.
Talk... And as you talk let your words
Unlock the incredible heights of the sky.
Talk, Scheherazade... The sultan is listening.
The sultan is ravenous. Your fate waits in suspense.
Do not stop! The executioners are quick to obey.
There is bitterness in your throat and your voice is tense.
But you must talk... And with each trembling word which you say at night
You pay for each new breath of air and for another hour of life,
You pay for your strength and your helplessness
And for all that which may be lost or possessed.
Talk, Scheherazada... The sultan is ravenous.
Your words flow slowly like blood from an open wound.
But, oh, do not yet give up... For the thousand and first night is still far
And the last handful of clay is still unpaid.