Love Poem: Only Eileen
Atef Ayadi Avatar
Written by: Atef Ayadi

Only Eileen

Only Eileen 
Dares to tell me 
How much I weight 
... My self-worth 
In pounds, 
And In pennies; 
In the black market, 
In EBay, 
Wall Street, 
Antic shops, 
And in cheap and cheek, 
Bazaars. 

Only Eileen 
Knows 
Who I am, 
What type of guts I have, 
What type of breathing habit I have, 
What type of joke I have, 
What type of joke I am. 
She told me 
All of that 
So I will not have sunburns 
And be immune to the cold feeling attacks. 

She told me all 
With a closed mouth; 
With a retreated eyes 
What I heard 
Is what I am bitterly 
Trying to grasp 
And see. 

Only Eileen 
With her unspoken language, 
Makeup, 
And soft night 
Soft dress 
Dares to face me 
And let me look down 
Into my barrel’s bottom. 
My own real deep sea. 

Only Eileen 
Dares to stare at me 
Ah! 
… With an eternal glances 
From the bottom-up 
And give me 
My forgotten maps 
In order to explore 
ORION 
CASSIOPEIA 
VULPECULA 
TAURUS 
And others 
Around 
SAGITTA. 

Only Eileen … 
Can tell... 
What type of cement, 
Cement, 
Bricks, 
titanium 
Plaster And concrete 
I may need … 
To build myself- 
... My house …- 
Over 
The one that fell down.