Der Spiegel In Kashgar
Where the Silk Road begins, I bought an apricot
saw a young Fidel Castro on a bike
The woman who sold the fruit wore a red shawl
over her shiny black hair knotted under her chin
and yellow silk dress
Do you see this man on a bike?
I asked the woman who sold fruit by the road
he is Fidel Castro of Cuba and is a famous man
except in the USA.
Kashgar is the biggest outdoor market in the world
Europe is puny, colorless, and far away
why was Fidel doing in Kashgar, so far from Cuba?
I tell you, he is looking for a tobacco dealer
to supply him with cigars, the USA is too close
to Cuba
A longer Silk Road is being built with pipelines
and trains to Hamburg's famous market of whores
selling flesh from dimmed-lit rooms
If you want to buy a peach, you have to go to Kandahar
or make a movie.
The man on the bike was a secular pope
his enemy tried to murder him for sixty years.
.
'long the
"Persian Royal Road"
fuse'n with that
wordly
"Silk Road"
there
i
with archer's bow
bent on knee
pick'n her
dusty
tattered
lifeless
up
marched back
'to
Eden
Der Spiegel
In Kashgar, where the Silk Road begins
I bought an apricot and saw a young
Fidel Castro on a bike
The woman who sold the fruit wore
a red shawl over her shiny black hair
knotted under her chin, a yellow silk
silk dress
do you see this man on a bike, I told
to the woman who sold fruit by the road
he is Fidel Castro of Cuba and is a very
famous man except in the USA.
Kashgar is the biggest outdoor market
in the world
Europe is puny, colorless and far away
why was Fidel doing in Kashgar
so far from Cuba.
I tell you, he is looking for a tobacco dealer
to supply him with Havana Cigars
Langley is too close to Cuba
A longer Silk Road is being built
with pipelines and trains to Hamburg
famous market of whores selling flesh
from dimmed rosy lit rooms.
If you want to buy a peach, you have to go
to Kandahar, or make a movie.
The man on the bike was a secular pope
his enemy tried to murder him for sixty years.
Der Spiegel
In Kashgar, where the Silk Road begins
I bought an apricot and saw a young
Fidel Castro on a bike
The woman who sold the fruit wore
a red shawl over her shiny black hair
knotted under her chin, a yellow silk
silk dress
do you see this man on a bike, I told
to the woman who sold fruit by the road
he is Fidel Castro of Cuba and is a very
famous man except in the USA.
Kashgar is the biggest outdoor market
in the world
Europe is puny, colorless and far away
why was Fidel doing in Kashgar
so far from Cuba.
I tell you, he is looking for a tobacco dealer
to supply him with Havana Cigars
Langley is too close to Cuba
A longer Silk Road is being built
with pipelines and trains to Hamburg
famous market of whores selling flesh
from dimmed rosy lit rooms.
If you want to buy a peach, you have to go
to Kandahar, or make a movie.
The man on the bike was a secular pope
his enemy tried to murder him for sixty years.
In Kashagan
The silk road begins
I bought
An apricot
From a woman
wearing
A red shawl
Over her black hair.
A yellow dress
She was stunning.
Kashagan
Has the biggest
Outdoor market
In the world
Europe is puny
And far away.
A new silk road
Is being
Constructed
Pipelines and trains
Expanding trade.
that is ok
as long
as they sell apricots
Digest our words. Oh, syllable counter.
Pseudo feelings, sling bot ropes in the fein.
Hand over fist deals over the counter.
Silk Road, WebMD. RX: Screenshots/dopamine.
Takla Makan
travellers on the Silk Road
wanting oasis
Marvels of the World I wrote.
Fantina, Bellela and Moretta will gloat.
These are my three daughters who kept me afloat.
They never did accompany me on travels or boat.
I saw the Mongol Empire and China too.
Recorded my exotic exploits and travels in 1292.
My books number over thirty-two.
So many to some, but so little to a few.
I was a trade, an explorer and writer in my day.
Christopher Columbus asked for advice along the way.
I met my true love Donata in the month of May.
What else could I tell you? What else could I say?
I traveled The Silk Road and met Kublai Khan.
He got an enormous kick about the road I was on.
Some of my original writings are totally gone
But some of the stuff is as brilliant as any sweet swan.
I only wrote about half of what in my travels I saw.
I traveled to China and Japan, and I was totally raw.
I drew some pictures, but I do not really cleverly draw.
One thing for sure, I stayed on my toes, and was always in awe!
I’m still in Cascais
Waiting to go home to my house in Algarve
30 years since the Berlin wall came down with the help
Of Russia let us not forget this.
In the meantime, many more walls have been built
Mainly in Israel, a program on the TV didn’t mention this
We don’t like to say anything upsetting.
The wall between me and my house is called old age
When it comes down no one wants to cross it.
The Chinese wall is a tourist attraction, no China
Is building a silk- road instead of covering the whole world.
There are many unseen walls between people, classes
Poor or rich, and between you and me.
The hope is that abstract walls will come down
The rest is steel and concrete suitable for building houses
THE LAWNS OF PARADISE
Dim road in Moscow’s winter taxi.
Maybe our Uzbek driver’s memory
Drifts to Bukhara,Samarkand and Tashkent:
The shifting sands and the caravan’s load,
Blue-gold minarets, mosaic tiled rooms,
Sunny desert oases along the Silk Road,
Bountiful grapes, scarlet pomegranate blooms.
30 December 2018
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Note
After I wrote this poem, I researched and discovered
a beautiful similar verse (translated) from the 16th century:
Poet Zayn ad-DinVasi (1485–1556), dedicated these lines to Tashkent:
“Oh, what a kingdom! None of the lawns of paradise
Can be compared with ancient Shash.
And the one who settled here for good
Will forever forget about paradise groves.
Perhaps, to die in Tashkent is better
Than to live a dragging life in another place“.
..................................
In the shimm’ring empty distance
Of a vast central Asian steppe,
A faint and formless shape appeared.
A soundless mass of black and brown
Rose like a djinn from out the dust
Of the long traveled Great Silk Road.
As it drew closer on its course,
Under a wide and hot noon sky,
That vague and slowly swaying shape
Cloned a train of two-humped camels,
And dark-faced nomads robed in blue,
Who marched in sync with Borodin.
On they trekked toward Samarkand
With their load of silks and spices,
Mixing sounds of bells and voices;
Indifferently passing by
To vanish in a distant haze
As do so many of our days.
Silk Road
S Syncretic in nature Mohamed ties silken faith
I Into punk rock's impetus and shouts from the mountain
L Leaves opulence behind and returns to the basics
K Kaleidoscope in hand he rejects the mockery of un-reflected belief
R Razor blades adorn his face from ear to listening ear
O Overcome the chasm of splits and dogmatic restraint
A Allude and exult in cleansing incision
D Doomed no more by vicarious mainstream he sounds out the road
03rd September 2018
The Black Death
It came without warning, it swept through the town
One day you were up, the next day you’re down
It came to the poor, it came to the rich
You might feel the bite, you might feel the itch
It might kill the whole family, it might spare one or two
By the time you saw symptoms it was too late for you
You might live for days or a few weeks instead
You might feel good at breakfast and by dinner you’re dead
It came from the East and moved on to the coast
Then into the cities; the rats were the hosts
They traveled the Silk Road with the vast caravans
Their fleas were infected across Europe’s lands
And once in the cities, the rats stayed to feed
And the plague was soon spreading and spreading with speed
The bodies soon littered each alley and street
Till they carted them off like slabs of dead meat
They buried some bodies in a communal pit
Then burned their belongings to get rid of it
And then it was over; not as quick as it came
And the vast devastation had earned its sad name
Two silk worms from east Shanghai
Had a fight; can’t tell you why
To settle the clash,
A hundred yard dash,
They both ended up in a tie!
On reading Der Spiegel
In Kashgar where the
The Silk Road begins
I a bought
An apricot
From a woman who wore
A red shawl
Over her black hair
Knotted under
Her chin
And a yellow silk dress
Kashgar the biggest
Outdoor market
In the world
Europe is so puny
And far away
A new silk road
Is being built
Pipelines and trains
Expanding trade
For China
Ok, as long as they sell
Apricots
At the market place
In Kashgar
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