In a Byzantine harem
  Where, seeking paradise,
  I'd disguised myself as a dog,
  A slave told me:
  
  Me, I'd like heavy pearls
  Enamelled black pearls
  To be dumb, and almost deaf
  So that you'd soothe me with words
  Words which resemble the sea
  Words that one sees through
  Words of bitterness and love
  Tender words, severe words
  
  Me, I'd like crowded rooms
  Where stretched out naked on all fours
  Encircled by dogs and chains
  Tasting mysterious liquors
  
  Drinks of life and drinks of death
  Cups filled to the brim
  I place my moist and eager lips
  On the kneeling stools therein
  
  Me I'd like a black slave
  With the white teeth, strong and cruel
  Who'd split my shackles wide
  And who'll take me to the sky
  
  In the damp languor of evening
  Me all white, and he all black
  He'd bite my body, sliding
  With a serpent slow...attack
  
  Me, I'd like to be a young woman
  Behind glass and iron bars
  As pleasure takes my every breath
  Until sleep, until death
  
  Beneath my purple-blue eyelids
  You know, I have only one thought
  To be a woman, yes, it's true
  To be a real woman
  
  God.....please...please