Long Wadi Poems

The Bedouins, bequeathed with the sacred beauty of paradise harsh,
trusted guardians of jealous gorges and gifted groves
lead me from the Wadi Musa to the humble ingress of Petra,
saying with thrill, the Jin of your Jihad...

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I am Kerris Hakim, bartender trade by night.  Here at Fahrenheit Lounge I've heard
Stories of patrons who dared to live, and lovers who had suddenly died.  
Graduating from law school without a dime....

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                         I
“Charge!” they said and charge they led
   ...

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Lay me to rest in marbled halls with angels at my head,
not lying here in the mud of Ypres with khaki turning red.
Let me die a noble death, one that's worth fighting for,
not to avenge...

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I watched the raindrops 
one by one they fell
they filled an empty hole
till it became a well
 
every word of yours is dew
like this rain I seek
the hole here large and empty
for a cistern of...

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Stranded in war torn Sudan, 
Dreading yet another dawn. 
In Wadi Sayyidna town,
Hopelessness was weighing down.

Men and women, young and old, 
Watched the civil war unfold.
Homeless, desperate, full of  fear, 
Longing for their near...

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Days, goes, in day another days, strawberry, spirit, to honour
Ignite old tyres, that is, choke in lung, keep in the mouth your water “ I don’t know” 
Apologetic orchid, which grow up on the tree
Legs...

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Like rivers flow, with sounds so joyful
Giving life where’er they go
Like cleansing streams, forever faithful
Never stopping in their flow

So constant is His grace and peace
So faithful His deliverance
His living waters never cease
Wherein we find our...

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Maa’mool winds wash over me
In antique moonlight I merge with the spirit of Wadi Shab
Following the worn paths through the orchards
To discover the hidden mysteries of Mibam
Commonplace melodies of the qanun and maqrum
Become new again...

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My Serengeti

I have neglected to visit my “Africa”, the flatland between
two hills that appear like a young mother`s breasts.
I know the trees and bushes, used to drive there to say hello.
Time changes I have no...

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Will the well run dry
This think and feel flow?

Or maybe there's an alchemy down here
Catalytically constructing stanzas
Like spiders to kill prey weave webs...

A little spit - that's all it takes
Voila!  Another catching verse
But is...

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Across lands of streets, stone and desert
A breeze in a waltz for trees to avert,

I flow with the freedom of a river in a bay
Across mountains and winds with passion I sway

From the historical Petra,...

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I bought a fine-bred stallion for a thousand dinars
And navigate the wadi by the light of the stars,
Oasis to oasis as the desert bird flies,
Enchanted by the beauty of your Bedouin eyes.

Though bandits and siroccos...

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Hay Day

June day, perfect day for turning hay fields,
A great day for it, happiness it yields.

Oh for product the cattle need to be nourished,
But a lasting memory that's forever cherished.

I scurry to the tractor with...

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The love that ends leaves traces, why not? 
Even in the great desert, Troy, Samothrace,
On hot sand and mint tea, see it
On the blue oranges, on the green moon,

Love leaves traces in the eyes, traces
Even...

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