Song Awry

In the night, I dreamt that I sought the man I loved. I looked for him, but I couldn’t find him.

So I decided to go out into the city, into the streets and alleys, which confused me because they were unfamiliar to me, and I looked for him whom my soul loved. I looked for him, but I could not find him.

The policemen who walked around the city at night stopped me, and I said to them, “Have you seen the man I love?” But they had not. They only laughed at me.

That night I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. I dreamt that I heard the voice of my beloved as he knocked at the door. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one,” he said, “for I am drenched with this rain; my hair is dripping with it.”

I got up from my sleep to open the door for my beloved, but he had turned away from the door. He was gone! My soul went forth when he spoke, but it failed me now and he had gone! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.