When I Am Without You Poem by Ghazi Al Gosaibi

I set sail
(although there's nothing more beautiful
than your eyes' sea where stars meet
where they shine with love
and their lighthouse beacon smiles
beaming home the voyager
ports have denied entry
because he tried to land passportless)
I set sail
searching for beautiful women
wearing perfume, kohl, and smiles
women who've never known joy
But like a child's
your face, loveliest of faces
has never been defaced with makeup
it still shows sorrow, hunger, fear
smiling one moment, frowning another
1 spread my sails and wandered
grappling with life's mysteries
I crossed the sea of riddles and enigmas
however you in your mind
never wrestled with philosophy
or searched beyond nature's bounds
asking questions
never pretending to knowledge
yet knowing right from wrong
penetrating through the fog
of hypocrisy
I set sail
changed my clothes and the color of my eyes
honed my tongue so others could understand me
danced to their tunes
donned eloquence, fine manners
shedding my old face
But when I am with you
I'm-still the one you always knew
as I know myself
I show the sun my warts
the winds my faults
I accept myself as I am
as your generous love accepts me.