Her feelings, so refined,
Her smile, so defined,
If I could be the wind,
I would trace her path
through every season,
A soft and faithful breeze behind.
-
-
No matter what the price
even if the fire is dancing on the ice
even if the retailer appears nice
I still make sure to roll the diceSpending to satiate my heart
even money knows its part
not making one party more weighty
and the other hollow and emptyThere are no limits
no rules to followSometimes it may sound rude
but if you do not haggle
people might take everything
and you may have to walk back home
broke, exposed and nudeOh dude
Thats the reason I say
fixed price doesn’t fix your balanceYou cant buy goods on emotions alone
you need cash to make the world spinAnd still
the rich are mostly poor
because money is all they haveFunny how that looks
depending on the angle you standSometimes I feel like
I shouldn’t haggle with retailers
just trying to earn their living
but conversation is an artWhen you’re in a local market
not in a mart
haggling is not a crimeYou sharpen your bargaining skills
when you finally reach your primeWhen I like something
I squeeze my pocket like a lime
just checking if I can find a dimeThe market is sometimes sour
sometimes sweet and fruityI make sure to get the best price
because haggling
haggling has its own beauty -
Brother, do you need hashish?
I thought it was a joke
and I smiled.
They were not joking.
One of the guys held my hand.
He had a band-aid on his forehead,
probably knocked himself out
on some smoke trip.
“Come on, brother.”
Inside the Marrakesh alley street,
the other guys signalled me
toward a doorway
leading to another street.
Laughing.
“Come inside.
Just 50 dirham per gram.”
I was reluctant.
Didn’t want to go inside.
“I have to go.”
Fear sat plainly on my face,
while I tried to soften it
with a borrowed smile,
trying not to be rude.
He still held my hand
and tried to assure me:
“Brother, this is Morocco.
Unlike Spain, Italy, other European countries…
we don’t steal from anyone.
All safe for you.”
I pulled myself free
from his soft clutches,
like escaping a grizzly bear
pretending to be
the same teddy bear,
just larger now.
Not knowing
whether it wanted kindness
or dinner.
Safe somewhere else,
I took a long breath
and thanked God
for letting me leave
in one piece.
-
In the heart of Morocco
with the Atlas Mountains
holding the horizon
I watched young men
carry fire
like a second language
No gloves
no shield between skin and flame
bare hands bargaining with heat
while sparks stitched gold
into the eyes of strangers
The crowd clapped
phones bloomed upward
like a forest of tiny moons
collecting danger as memory
And there beside a chair
a small box whispered
Tips
Such a quiet word
for work that could blister a lifetime
Some swallowed fire
as if their throats had signed
a private treaty with burning
Some spun it laughing
like the flames
knew their names already
Beautiful yes
night opened its dark curtain
and fire stood alone on the stage with them
But beauty sometimes hides
its unpaid price
I was there today
watching survival
dressed as spectacle
watching young men
make a living
from the oldest danger
on earth
-
We both were luminous,
but our light grew dimmer
I was just trying to find
the serenity within,
yet the world around me
slowly called me
a dreamer.
-
don’t cry
tears are your friend
if somebody
had told him this
he wouldn’t feel so lonesome now
he crushed the last ember
of a cigarette
and exhaled
what little was left of him
-
A seagull tired of flapping its wings
got on a train without a ticket
It chose a risky ride
perched on top of the coach
It could flap its wings anytime
and fly back naturally
but the ride
the fresh air
the rush of velocity through the wind
would be beautiful
Maybe it needed a torque to fly
a little push
to shrug off its laziness
a little motivation
to reach its destination
without much effort
And even when the train stops
if it poops on someone at the platform
it wont have to face the trouble
of standing in court
-
My friend asked me
Where am I going?
This boat called life,
I am rowing.
The world is lovely,
but humanity is toying.
There is nothing to prove,
yet still people are showing.
Stars are shining,
the moon is glowing.
Love is hidden somewhere,
while hatred is growing.
All these things
oh God, what would I do by knowing?
Even if the world ends tomorrow,
seeds of compassion I am sowing.
-
I fell into her galactic eyes
and lost all gravity
I became a lovernaut in her heart
floating through her memorieswhen she spoke
music rose sharp from a harp
and every noise in my head
dissolvedmy world was illogical
she made it musicalatoms leaned into each other
the air grew sacred
and nothing stayed stillI became water
cool inside a clay potwhen she touched my hands
something ancient cracked open
and I spilled like a rivulet
finding my way
back to the ocean -
Someone handed me a mike
for some reason
it looked like a spikeMaybe nervousness took over
as I stood there
a hopeless lovera poet born from broken hearts
still learning
how to put the pieces togetherThe audience waited for me to recite
my long pauses
felt like days would soon turn to nightMy mind whispered low
This is your battle
this is your fight
no escape from the audience sightso make your heart light
and let your poetry take flightAnd so I spoke
Millions of stars fall from the sky
but rarely one or two
catch the earth’s eyeMillions of souls I’ve crossed paths with
under the same vast indifferent skybut you were the only one
for whom I let my walls run drythe only one
I trusted with the reason whythe only one
I chose without asking goodbyeto exchange my heart with
no question no replyThen thunderous applause
broke like a wave against my earseven after the words had passed
even as I walked off the stageThe claps are temporary
I knowbut I am happy
I freed the poem
from its emotional cage
my heart quietly
gave justice
to that wounded pagegave justice
to that wounded page
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