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Berber at Heart

The strangest things make me think of him sometimes...

Bray in the street, little donkey,
Your rusty voice uplifted to the skies,
A farewell to this beautiful city:
The last sound of Marrakech.
Baking sunshine beating upon
Your dusty coat,
Hooves clipping the quiet street,
Drawing your heavy burden,
Whilst I, heavy of heart,
Must contemplate my leaving:
A departure from sun and light and sound
To my old familiar cloud and silence.
Oh donkey, how I envy you!
Envy even your weary toil,
For you daily pass the beauties
Of this vibrant city I have
Lately called my home.
Marrakech burns my heart
Like a fever borne on the rushing breeze,
Sears my soul like the desert sun,
Burnishing skin and lighting eyes.
Sultry the evening that gives birth
To such a day of possibilities!
In the Place Dmejaa-el-Fna
I feel the prick of tears
For a home once lost, now found,
Forever to be felt in my heart
And carried in my soul
Until once more I taste the air
Redolent of roses
Blushing with bougainvillea
Saturated in spices of a thousand hues
The prickly aroma of oranges surrounding me
The dust, the heat, the noise
And know that I have returned
To the source of this sweet longing
That tears me as I think of leaving
Long hours before I must.
I would stay here forever
Were it only possible,
And I already know that some part of me
Will always remain.
I return home because I must
Through my duty to work
And in search of my long-lost lord
And though I know I may the sooner find him
In the shadow-land to which we both owe our birth
Still my soul hesitates
To shed the protective mantle
Of this land of dancing waters
And shimmering ochre stone.
The return to cold and damp and dark
Does little to sustain my Berber heart;
It is only his light –
The light of his love to come –
That truly draws me back from whence I came
A lifetime ago
In but a week's swift passing.

[17th July 2009]

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Email: louisianax@yahoo.co.uk