The Qasida of the Warrior
“ ~The qaṣīdaᵗ (also spelled qaṣīda; in Arabic: قصيدة,) is a form of lyric poetry that originated in preIslamic Arabia.”Wikipedia — An oration or eulogy in praise of some person or achievement ~
We asked,
“you live by an ocean of plenitude
— those valleys over there —
but ride only swells of desert mirage.
From dry balconies you descend
not a song,
but a steel battle cry
between your teeth.
Pieces of thunder from
the frontier of the deep
Northwest and its horsemen
ring in your eyes,
at your feet
glow burnt poppy fields.
We do not know you.
Are you a friend?”
A minor god steered him,
in passing,
towards our tour bus,
through cindered groves
of oranges and lemons,
steered him away