MEZQUITA TWILIGHT
A keyhole
An arch
A shaft of light
From several gods
Points the way.
Crimson and white
Wash your hands
Embrace the shade
She offers
The scent of lemons
Grenadine and musk
And her skin
Her breath
Bronze and mint.
Kneel and pray
Face the east
Face your fate
You can’t turn away.
Beneath these stones
You’ll lie forever
Under a world you built
For a world you can’t understand.
Be still.
Be as one.
Hush.
Salam.
ARABIAN SUNSET
A curtain is drawn
I shield my eyes
To not see
But I feel
Despite the years
And all the tears.
A fountain springs
Brings to life
Memories that bless.
Behind the veil
She calls to me
Pulls my world into hers.
A butterfly dies
Beauty begs for life
A keyhole closes
A lock turns.
And I try to understand
But I’m weak.
Her face fades
And a church rises
Where once we lay.
Al-Andalus Winter
Stones
Tell tales.
Listen.
They speak.
They’re speaking now.
Touch their cold hard hearts
Faintly beating.
A Moor cries
A Jew sighs
Every day for centuries.
Beauty buried deep
Crawls from the very walls
They built.
And I stand here
Feeling guilt.
I know not why –
But these stones,
And their stories
Will not die.
Listen.
LOVE SONG TO CORDOBA
It hurts my heart to leave
To slip away
At an early hour
Like the lover
I never thought I’d be
Leaving behind
Your scented breath
Your olive skin.
Beneath your gaze
I could lie for hours
Listening to your stories
Sharing all your glories
And feelings of sadness
Deep inside you
When your world
Was turned upside down
Forever.
But your beauty
Hasn’t faded
You’ll lure me back again
I know.
Take my hand
Through narrow
Whitewashed floral streets
And caress my cheeks
With your orange blossom kisses
Beneath the ancient
Crescent moon
Who watches over you
Every Arabian night
Til I can return
And let you
Fold me once more
In your soft brown arms
Your magical love…..
Your Cordoban charms
THE MOOR’S PROMISE
(Boabdil and his mother -January 2nd 1492)
An unforgiving sun
Beats down
Like a Christian sword
Destroying the fabric
Of the land
And all that holds her world together.
Incessant drumming
Pierces her skull
Leaving her already torn senses
To scatter in the warm wind
Like a dead bird’s feathers.
She sighs.
Then weeps.
Gazes silently
At the beckoning Alpujarras.
Aware of filial eyes
Scanning her posture
Looking to see if she too
Is breaking.
She spies an eagle.
Wings buckling
Beneath the weight
Of the hard Granadan air.
It is a sign.
She knows.
The king is bending his knee.
To a tyrant.
Right is on their side
But today Allah is not.
She turns
Now dry eyed
And her son
In regal red
Bows.
Hols out his hand.
We will return
He whispers.
Our time is not of the here and now.
But we leave our breath
Our beating hearts
Burning
Beneath the Gates of the Seven Floors.
One day.
We will arise.
Spanish Moors.
Proud and defiant.
Now
Seal the doors
‘Til we once more
We ride through.
No tears.
No last sigh.
We hand over keys
That are physical.
But the keys we keep
Cannot be taken
Cannot be copied.
They were forged
Eight hundred years ago.
As we ride
Look forward –
Never back.
Mother – take my hand.
We may be leaving
Our land
But –
Our blood,
Our soul
Will forever be
Within these walls.
This jewel.
This Alhambra.
This
Granada.
Song to Seville – La Esperanza
A hand across time
Reaches out to touch you
To touch your heart
To hold your pulse
And beat with you.
Slowly…..
You breather together –
Both imbibe
The orange blossom
The cinnamon
The jasmine
That perfume your world.
Her dark eyes
Are your eyes
Scouring the street.
Her ears your ears
Listening for voices
Soft and discreet
While whispered promises
‘Neath silken sheets
Of heavenly hues
Take you back to the time
When she was your muse.
Then the toll of a bell
Breaks the thousand year spell
And the sun of Seville
Rips the curtain in two.
And her hand slips from yours
Back to Arabic shores.
But this Andalus dream
Will not go away
She’s bitten you deep
And you’re in her sway.
Now sleep…
Til the next time
Her open palm
Offers you a chance
Of hope.
Of love.
Of mystical charm.
Listen Hard
Córdoba 2018
Listen hard
Listen well
Córdoba
Toledo
My heart
Your bell
I’m here
A constant.
When you change
I’ll know.
We wait
Spain and I
I’m chained here
Can’t lie.
But I need you
Or my land’s a country
With a missing piece.
Can you see?
Madrid?
A man?
A love?
A plea?
Don’t free me.
Till you’re sure.
I’ll stay
Forever.
Waiting.
Til you’re here.
Til you knock
Til you open
My door.

