But ..but you said she was all right ?? You said it was gonna be ok … We’ve done everything we could ... the trauma was too deep … I’m so sorry the doctor .. get me the doctor ! Where is she ? Where is my daughter ? We’ve done everything we could .. the trauma was too deep … I’m so sorry.. At sunset , the young man opened his arms As he would have with wings At the gates of the desert Embracing the limitless horizon He sat and thought deeply He thought of the intense heat that kills He thought about the rarity of water He thought of the world behind him He thought of the sand That would swallow his footprints And he thought again Of the dreams that had led him here He wanted to write them down He wanted to write them down But he remembered the perfection of God’s word He wanted to draw them in the sand But he remembered the Lapis lace of Hagia Sophia He wanted to sing them But the Mullah’s beautiful voice calling out for evening prayer discouraged him He wanted to dance them But the nuptial flight of two birds in midair Froze his elan And he remained there At the gates of the desert Thinking And thinking And thinking Dried up old man Still hesitant.
Who is using My lips To speak ? All day long I wonder All night long , I question the silence as I would an Oracle Where did I come from ? How can I fill my empty days ? I don’t know… My soul comes from the unknown And I’ll go back there Of That, I’m certain My drunkenness was born Long ago in a slum Perhaps I’ll be sober again Someday But right now I feel like a bird snatched from his tree And locked up in an aviary Someday perhaps Of the dreams that had led him here I’ll open my wings again But who will recognize the songbird ? Who is using my lips To speak ? And who is watching through my eyes ? Questions are dancing like ghosts If only I could drink a sip of your truth I could leave this prison forever Because I didn’t arrive here By myself I was forcefully taken And I can’t leave alone The one who brought me here Will have to set me free I rather remain silent O love ! Grant me to see your face Even once ! It would give me the strength I need to leave this existence I’ve asked God And my eyes ! What should I do with my eyes ? And God said Keep them Straight on the road ahead And my passion , I asked again , and the fire that burns my guts, what should I do of those ? “ let it consume you “ And my heart ?? What about my heart ? « What is in there ? Whatever you hide » My pain My grief My wounds The blood lost on life’s battlefield They are to be treasured ; Like cracks in the walls They let the morning light in Goodbyes are for those who love only with their eyes For those who love with their souls Separation is banished Remember You are much braver than you think You are smarter than you think You are more beautiful beautiful than you think Yesterday you were wild And you wanted to change the world Today you are wiser You can look inside of you Remember When you are alone It’s because God sent everyone else away Because He wanted to be alone with you I’m a sculptor My hands birth beauty Each minute , I create a new idol to be adored But as soon as you appear My effigies lose their sacredness My effigies lose their sacredness I can create a thousand figures And fill them with God spirit But when you enter my room I want to destroy them My soul overflows into yours I’ve tasted your scent I treasure it Each drop of blood Falling on the earth Whispers that I’m one With the beloved We are ONE in union, hidden In a lair made of mud and water My soul cracks and falls apart Waiting for you Come in my love, Come in or let me go Passion will resurrect The potency of old Potions Passion will disperse boredom Passion is the panacea That reignites everything How can anything resist passion ? Don’t sigh my beloved Seek your passion Seek Seek seek your passion Beauty of the heart Is the only beauty The heart’s has tasted the waters of life There is water The one who pours water and the one who drinks The three become one All talismans become useless Because the only real talisman Is the Beloved‘ s love You cannot enter it Through reasoning The one who thinks too much closes his door To the beloved I am not him I’m only the recipient of his love The beloved is unique He is the beginning And the end True love is our treasure The real beloved is the one The only one – the beginning and the end When you meet him Your quest is over He is the mystery and the knowledge The one who erases days and months The one who commands to the moon and the stars The one who transcends time He doesn’t know the difference between body and soul He knows that love is stronger than dead The one who glides on time And is carried by it This one won’t know death The spring of lovers has arrived ! May this pit of dust Turn into a garden The heavens have ordered it !! May the bird of imagination be set free May the bottom of the seas Be filled with pearls And the salt of swamps become honey May granite become ruby May body and soul become one ! The savant always tries to make a point The lover prefers to get lost The savant stays on the shore The lover isn’t afraid of drowning The savant protects his rest The lover is ashamed to sleep Like water and oil Lovers won’t mingle with crowds They don’t mix with thinkers Don’t mock them Or passion will mock you in return Love is a tree and lovers are the shade of its branches Love is the rarest musk It is the teacher and the student The apparition and the seer Only the lover’s eyes Have contemplated Eternity And seen it as a fertile land , greener every morning Love is Life’s only elixir And only it reveals its perfection The incredible perfection of each leave, It gave its majesty to the cypress And its perfume to the rose And its power to the eagle Beauty is never far from Love. It walks in its shadow Love undoes knots and set the heart free Beauty and love are like body and soul Beauty is the mine Love is the diamond They are each other’s wealth They ARE When I don’t sleep I write songs to lit up the night The face of the beloved And his eyes color of spring Keep me awake I have no wisdom No serenity No patience I have a terrible reputation And my social skills Are dead All the disguises of society Are moth eaten My sweetness Is buried without a marker I’m angry I’m magma I’m disintegrating My heart and my soul Are estranged They are like stars jealous of the moon light My universe is so narrow So fragile, like a arch of dry mud gapping an abyss The moon inside of me Begs to know how long I’ll survive Without my sun Without love’s rarest gems To bring color and light To my colorless life My shop is empty Not pillaged Not dilapidated But without inventory Never renewed An orchard forgotten by bees Oh my beloved You have thousands of names But no one knows The one my heart whispers To call on you Come back and pour wine In my body’s chalice To meet you my Lord To meet you my Lord How long will you be on the road ? Are you prepared to the hardness of the wanderer’s life ? I will walk until you tell me to stop my Lord Are you ready to be consumed ? Will you let my fire burn you to ashes ? Yes – I’ve renounced the world for you ! You are your own defender but where are your witnesses ? My witnesses , my lord , are my tears and my longing for you Your witnesses have no credibility ! Your eyes are too foggy to see my horizon My eyes are clear , thanks to your grace my Lord But WHO are you ? What do you want from ME ? I want to be your constant companion I want to walk in your presence I want to rejoice of every dawn I’ll watch with you But what do you WANT ? I want your grace my lord The miracle of you What were you thinking of When you were walking ? You were my constant thought The thought of you was my compass O my King But why did you stop at my door ? The perfume of your wine Guided me here Lovers ! Hear the cymbals ! Our caravan is ready to leave ! The stars are echoing the drums Our guide Asks why we are sleepy When departure is so close He says the desert song Is waiting for us That the stars are like candles behind blue curtains And they lit up the skies with sapphires Without ever burning the veil He says that darkness will protect us Like a loving mother This is what love is To venture in the dark Where nothing but the heart is visible O heart What a grace To be invited In the lovers circle And to be able to touch What only the soul can touch Leave your worries Feel your heart losing its heaviness Like the mirror Which reflects without remembering If you want the mirror To show you who you really are Then polish your heart With sulfur and acids Because it’s the harshest cleaner that your heart needs to see its truth Because the heart hides many secrets But it always reveals them Those who can’t feel this Those who don’t look at dawn Those who don’t feed on sunsets Those , let them Sleep This love is holier than scriptures If they don’t want to hear it Let them Sleep I’ve renounced the tricks of the mind Am naked If you are waiting to wrap yourself In a robe of words I ll let you sleep When the rose will die And the garden turns yellow You won’t hear the nightingale anymore The beloved is everything The lover is his veil If love sap stops to run What will feed the lover ? The lover will be like a wingless bird How can I spend nights Alone If the beloved’s light is dimming ? Drunkards fight and throw things At each other But the lover’s thirst is worse than drunkenness I will tell you what love is It’s going down a mine shaft filled with gold And the finest gold ! The lover is the king of all kings The lover doesn’t fear death He doesn’t want any honor The dervish hides the most precious pearl Under his torn tunic Last night I drunk myself to stupor I disrobed and danced Get up and make my soul Drink the most treacherous wine The time has come To listen to listen to the moon bird And to dust my hands with Sugar And to lick my palms And I fell I broke my cup I was so drunk ! Oh my idol Protect me from myself Take my hand ! A new law has been voted Let’s break all the grails And the glasses Look at love How it weaves its web Look at the Spirit Give life to earth’s clay Why do you waste your time Wondering what is good or bad ? Just or unjust ? Look how perfect everything is Why do you torture yourself with Knowledge and ignorance Look how the known and the unknown light up each other ! Why building walls Between this life And the next one ? Since everything we are and will be Is the harvest of our lives Past and to be ? Listen to your heart Listen to your tongue Your heart is deaf and mute Your tongue is blinded Unaware of its sharpness Look at fire and water Lead and gold Friends and foes The wolf and the yearling The red of blood and the red of rubies So similar yet so different Spring And winter Dance together on solstice nights Look at their perfect marriage You too Become one with the universe Blend with life’s sap Since heaven and earth Are doing it with you Like a sugar cane dancing with the wind aware of its sweetness Stay away from bitterness And gossip Focus on your union Nothing else exists The beloved will flow From your heart Like a cascade of liquid roses There will be Only union Remember me I’ll be with you In the grave The night everything finishes The night where you leave Everything behind Business and friends You’ll hear my voice You will know who I am You will recognize me Immediately You will understand that I was always there By your side Perhaps invisible to the eyes But present I’m the light in your heart Your awareness of joy Your knowledge of plants and flowers Your ability To rejoice in nature’s glories The gold of dusk And the power of storms And the writing on nights walls I’m the tears that suffocate you The knifes that cut your heart The cancers that eat your flesh I am with you through Happiness And despair. That night When you are alone When your carcass starts to ooze in your shroud I’ll be there The stench of freshly dug tombs Won’t bother you I’ll protect you from The snakes and the scorpions And I’ll ward off demons Who haunt cemeteries and call the dead by their first names ( you heard them , haven’t you ??) I will protect you from Grave robbers That would steal your pitiful gold And would scatter your bones to wild dogs You will be safe You will know the ecstasy of flying , you will understand the birds You will think that friends Are on their way, with torches , wine and music Asleep or wide awake My heart knows No rest through your fire It is like a clay pot Ready to explode In the red coal O You ! You made me drink a wine of forgetfulness A liquor that erases voices and thoughts In your anger Bloom garlands of kindness In your avarice Float banners of tenderness In your ignorance Are written the gospels of the future The words muttered by those You intimidate Are far away They are gone Ashamed of what they saw in the mirror you held for them I’m haunted I’m serene Who is at my door ? Your humble servant And what do you want ? Why are you there ? To meet you my Lord Your journey isn’t over How long will you be on the road ? Are you prepared to the hardness of the wanderer’s life ? I will walk until you tell me to stop my Lord Are you ready to be consumed ? Will you let my fire burn you to ashes ? Yes – I’ve renounced the world for you ! You are your own defender but where are your witnesses My witnesses , my lord , are my tears and my longing for you Your witnesses have no credibility ! Your eyes are too foggy to see my horizon I want to walk in your presence I want to rejoice of every dawn I’ll watch with you But what do you WANT ? I want your grace my lord The miracle of you What were you thinking of When you were walking ? You were my constant thought The thought of you was my compass O my King But why did you stop at my door ? The perfume of your wine Guided me here Lovers O Lovers ! Hear the cymbals ! Our caravan is ready to leave ! The stars are echoing the drums Our guide Asks why we are sleepy When departure is so close He says the desert song I’m agitated I whisper the very incantations the waters of the bay of Aden sing for the pirates and the drowned May you reach for the skies May you travel happy Like a prisoner just set free You just escaped a trembling universe Like seen through flames You’ve arrived In peace You are safe And if you can’t see the human features That used to be you Just wait You are going to meet The one who gave you The breath of life If your dead skin is color saffron Look for the shade Ask for it to the Judaea trees Blooming near the beloved.
Escape Run out of the window ! Dance on the roof ! Forget your human condition Forget your hungry stomach Become your bread Become your water Your heart can rest now Find shelter Under the biggest tree Near the apothecary shop Ask him to prepare For You his wine of amnesia Be aware of crooks And of poisoned food All the words you’ve learned Weren’t always wise The bottoms of the oceans Aren’t covered with mother of pearl Sit down And sing the songs of hope Through the desert night Make yourself a bed in the sand And lay down Drop all your thoughts Wrap yourself in a cape of morning light Hang on to the winds They will leave you Near an oasis You will drink its water And eat perfect fruits And moon And moon You will become Your own passionate season Do you hear ? A stranger in the night ? He suddenly arrived The uninvited guest We ask “ who is there ?” And the soul answers “‘the moon !!” And us fools we ran outside to see if the moon is missing from the sky! But the invisible guest Laughs “ I’m here ! I’m here !” We beg him to appear Like Lazarus Like Jesus appeared to the women he loved Like the light to a blind man Did we dream ? Was it a cat ? A fox ?? The whispers of the tree? Help ! It’s a thief ! But the guest laughs again And he joins our screams Until darkness swallows all voices And when silence reigns You find him Inside of you Don’t call for help Wash away The angst Become liquid Like melting snow When love is near Tongues hiss like The pistil of the desert lily But the desert lily close its petals at night Learn from the flower Keep your mouth shut With your joy inside Riches are nothing ! They arrive at dawn And are gone by dusk Beauty is nothing A silky face Can be destroyed by thorns Noble births are nothing Human titles are jokes Vain People Think of their talents as birthrights If you don’t honor God For his gifts They will rot and flies will gorge on them Don’t expect anything From anyone The beloved has dimmed All the lights of this world And the spices and perfumes are so weak compared to him You are not bitter Nor discouraged You’ve touched The absolute And for a moment You became one with it You are not blind No Your tears are fogging your vision There is no room left For anything But the beloved If trees could walk Or fly They’d escape the lumberjack If the Sun wasn’t the most magnificent of travelers How could it lit up so many mornings ? If the water from the sea Wasn’t drank by the clouds It wouldn’t quench the springs and the rivers That return to the sea And think of the prophet Who traveled to far away Medina And converted a hundred countries You say you want to travel ? You have two feet , no ? Oh you say your legs are hurting Then take a journey inside yourself The most sacred of all Pilgrimages Is the one you make inside yourself You don’t have to stop and pray at every sanctuary You know That in the depth of your heart God is your everything Don’t leave without me Don’t let any sky separate us Don’t let anything in this world or the next Come between us And compromise our union I want to be yours As the moon is to the night I want to taste the spices You eat I want to be the hand that lifts your hammer And the gold it flattens I want to be the night’s crusts In your eyes corners I want to be the dust Around your feet when you walk I want to be the drop of blood running from your cut finger And the lips that drink the blood There is no worse misery Than walking alone In the cruel summer noons Without you You are my path You are my guide And you already know The roads and the maps Without having to read them May this union And these sacred vows Be blessed May this marriage Taste like sweet milk Like The first wine of a vine May it smells like fresh bread May this marriage Bring fruits and soft shade Like the date palms May it birth laughter May its tears dry fast May this marriage Be an uninterrupted song of compassion May these two souls Give the world their joined kindness May its seal of happiness Be eternal May this marriage be the omen Of precious smiles Of rippling joys In a sky as blue as the robin’s egg Whomever claims To know what fate has in mind Is a liar and a fool God laughs when He hears men saying “ I’ve got plans !’l What are we but dry seeds in the wind Who can tame the storm ? God’s gifts are all blessings Even those which look like curses How can we believe We are the captains of our crossings ? In the hand of love I am like a poor cat Sealed in a bag By crual children I don’t belong to any world Not this one , nor the next The real believers Jump head first in mountain cataracts They accept his will Like the windmills, They obey the breeze And turn and turn Until they collapse With fatigue And ecstasy My friends Don’t fear death You have been and you will be You are fluid Immortal Your souls will keep on dancing long after everything else turns to dust You don’t belong To darkness - you shine with God’s light Embrace the beloved You won’t find greater joy Your life will be lit up Like fireflies illuminate a June night Everywhere you go Take that joy with you Protect it like the most precious gem But don’t spare it Teach joy Share joy Nothing will defeat you Evil can’t survive In pure hearts And even if our human lives are nothing but dust What joy , to make that dust dance !! Sorrow isn’t your country Dance my friends Dance my children Dance Dance Dance Dance
2021-02-15