The Poetess of Light
watercolor/ink/acrylic, 11 x 14″
1/2012
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Remembering the Taste of Light
I was awakened not with a cry not from a call or a tap on my shoulder
For the first time since I recall I was awakened by a taste in my mouth
As if a child longing the taste of mother’s first milk
The milk that feeds the essence and the soul and a lost child
I have felt the feeling of being held
I have soared the seven seas and the wide skies with no wind
I am being held as I fly
The flight of soul can happen after the burial of this body
that carries the dirt and the weight of this world
I carry no gold in my pockets
How can I afford to hang onto such weight
With the weight of gold at its highest I have sold it all
Sold the gold to those gold diggers who find light in tis bright shine
I cover my eyes from the filth of its glow
I look for light within
I hear the tender cries of the elephants all lined up to dig up the graves of their bodies
Such weight looking for deep sleep in order for flight
I also hear the congregation of the snails as they return from Pilgrimage
such a far journey to traverse all the deserts mountains and seas to arrive with in
Within to where the lover awaits and has awaited a life time
Pour from the vessel
My thirst is readily quenched
The doors to the heaven within open like the doors of a swing door brothel To and Fro
There are no knockers at these doors only the doors to heavens that lead us to the brothel of the body
The body that has gone from alley to alley all night looking for some attention
At times it matters not the price not being paid
nor the sacrifice of the virgin mouth that tastes like a new born’s mouth
Lying is a form of sacrificing the virgin mouth
for it sprinkles the ashes of truths dusted with a cloth of lies
Looking upon a man slaughtering an animal for the use of its skin
is a form of sacrificing the purity of sight
Slaughter should never occur unless slaughtering the life of a rose to capture a lovers heart
In depth of my being I have been with thee
I have tasted thy blood and I have been held by thy desert wind
I like the sound of the wind in my nostrils as I arrive to the refrigerator
holding the flowers to be placed at my grave
I am so ready for flight
It can be here in your arms or with the death of the cage that carries my soul
How long before I visit my own engraved name at the cemetery
Is it then that I will realize the truth of what I have longed for so long
Perhaps if I engrave my name today and bury each letter in the seven seas
I will realize that it is only in capturing your truth that any truth can be heard
I must die in order to awaken and fly
I must breathe in order to die
I am the human form of Eve that has picked the apple from the Garden of Eden
I know the treasure each and every seed of the apple holds
It is with its gestation that the seed in me has grown
Each seed feeds from the core of the earth
Each seed feeds on the first drop of milk mother earth offers at dawn
I want to be awake at this hour every day
The hour before the call to prayer
As If I am going to the airport to the port by the sea to the station with empty trains to meet my lover
Every where I go I hear the hallow voice of thee echoing
Everywhere I look I see the streams of light flourishing
Rainbow upon Rainbow
No color
Just
Light
– Bahareh Amidi
Art by Christine B. Ghattas 