i remember
the bravery of those crimson toes
delicate armour amid musky crowds
when we stopped to buy broad beans you smiled at the vendor’s daughter with the
bedouin eyes
‘she has the desert in her eyes’ you said
while she put out her hand
you filled it with piastres
you
were always kind like that
remember
that woman?
you gave… when she was clutching
her withered child—she kissed
your hand and you had said ‘i know
i know my days in flesh
are brief
i feel no years’
how sweet you were
think back—
one night we walked
through that bazaar, arm in arm among sandy earth and beggars
a sonorous rhythm of pharaonic women
delayed
only
by oceans
and generations
can you picture those meandering streets?
those streets where
intoxicated whisperings rose and drifted like spiced blue smoke
citadels among grotesquely-peopled streets
were only
fevered activity
beyond
your suffering
new year’s eve
we laughed
danced
drank in the tapestry of delirium and dust
beneath ancient stars no odious bird flew that night
momentary freedom
we weren’t dispassionate, just forgetful
but you remembered
you always did
