The Ruba'Iyat of Creteil Lake - Part Six

The Ruba’iyat of Créteil Lake- Part Six Awake! Dour Dreamer! And draw the curtain of benumbing clouds Fairies hover by ears to whisper mantras dispelling doubts Already unheeding magpies cluck rudely tongue-in-beak And trans-continental flights from Orly pierce through rain clouds Good hour or two has gone by since Metro Lac broke loose Gardiens de paix drive into the buckle of her tresses noose Barnacle geese strut at her feet preening proud feathers sleek Mullahs wash their feet by fountains gushing djellaba loose Murmuring Berber prayers from cowed heads rise to the skies While lyceen innocence dries up on loud tutored lies Do hotel beds lost in arbours get bought for sleep or trysts Stompings on her esplanade nose-bridge: she frets and defies Wake the dreamer of unwholesome dreams and set the hour right! How long lone and stricken chained beneath the main tight! “What ails thee beneath thy furrowed frown! O! Prisoner of sin!” The tent-maker’s son still roams with galaxies drifting plight! “Lift that gorgeous head just once: let us see those laser flashes That make this lake look thunder-struck even through sun-glasses!” Fitful sparrows in hedges and eaves seek not to share her thoughts Oblivious Mall shoppers let slip lone tears from her gashes. © T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013