no j in arabic

ghimila offers to take my picture.
ghimila.
she takes two--
we don't have J in arabic--
and i ask her her name
we shake hands.

homage to night

homage to night
against white
the moors, violet
of day, keening
severe, honest
at two or three or four
old women
worried about paying bills
they came, each one
and i ask you
if they did why can't you
if they would
why won't you
but you do long for midnights
shared around a fire
you, embodied spirit
telling tales of whispers
shimmering
silently
watched from a comfort
under blankets of dark
inspired by dreams
stopped dreaming
enter your peace of piece


be
your
piece of peace
only pieced together
happiness
quilted gatherings
sewn and stitched
over gossip
spread thick with
metaphors
toasting the needles
of schemes
yarns connecting
then and now
voices discarded
traded for the hand
dancing across the
blank witness of the page
after your words
and go--speak if you
must--through me--
to me--but torment
me not--
i have let you go
now, please,
let me.