3 poems from the desert

dune

Mountain, sea, body,
Flesh, water, stone.
Light play shadow,
Trail scurries side
Ways also back
Wards and forwards.
Land a sundial,
Intemperate,
Fearsome. Gentle.


ouarzazate

It's too hot to sight-see. It's too hot
To eat. Our fellow expeditionaries
Talk environment. Hong Kong, everything
Under the sun. We drink water, make
Notes, retreat. The locals smoke, eat
Ice cream, speak slowly, watch -


ait

The chocolate walls look like they're made
Of lego. The kid who adopts us has
Lived here all his life. I ask if he
Wants to move and he says yes, he'll
Go across the river, to the other side
With the electricity. Ten families
Live in the old kasbah. A few years ago
They built a pit to film Gladiator.
I ask the kid if he's Russel Crowe's
Mate. The kid says he was too young.
He doesn't hassle us for dirhams
But we give him some anyway.



sahara june07

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