ba-Boom ba-Boom Boom Boom
ba-Ba ba-Ba Ba Ba
ba-Boom ba-Boom
Boom Boom
Ba-ba-Ba ba-Ba Ba Ba
The Sign of the Open Palm
by C.R. Patton Jr.
From noon till cool dark comes
hot daylight rakes the street;
broken cobble lies undisturbed
while the shade is in retreat.Against a baked mud wall,
sweating in the afternoon balm,
squats a shadow maybe once a man;
holding out his upturned palm.For decades or centuries,
longer, scraggle-bearded elders say;
the rhythm of the hot and dry
have preserved Al-Jabbat from decay.Pebbles atop the sand expand
thrusting out shadows long and dark;
nearby but seldom seen
feral dogs begin their twilight bark.Thru the blur of a smoke filled room
fall glowing ashes from a hand so calm;
outside in the dust blown street
hangs the Sign of the Open Palm.A pair of live flame lamps
light the doorway with their duet;
a shadow looming ten feet tall
shrouds a slightly smaller silhouette.Enter a crooked tooth smile
too yellow to reflect the flickers,
Eyeing as he walks each patron
his knees move among the wickers.Propped by a driftwood staff;
sitting, sipping sweet hot tea
wizened with rare red hair
stands a soul of serenity.Water warped wood in a desert land
just one of his dervish tokens;
"Assalamu-alaikum",
his greeting is grimly spoken."And also upon you" goes unsaid
by the approaching ogre now near;
a loathing felt by all precedes,
a hatred with a hint of fear.The dullard's knife shines forth
with a handle of rhinoceros horn,
He has come to avenge the deaths
of a wife and a child unborn.The smaller flame-haired man
had been paid for a mystical service.
The arid medicine had failed
leaving the widower a single-minded purpose.But the confidence shining from the mage
illicits a meandering doubt;
this weaponed attack on authority
parches his throat like a two year drought.South from below the Sudan,
north through Saudia to Turkey,
charisma heightens a man
whether Sir Lawrence or The Mahdi.From Morocco to Bangladesh
people of Islam bow habitually,
Mekkah is the center of all
five times each day faithfully.A simple frontal attack
stands not a snowflake's chance;
courage gone but resolve in place,
he follows behind the knife's advance.A flash, a flick, and a two piece staff
end it all before it can really begin;
the half in hand is dagger tipped;
burnt powder falls on a grizzly grin.A second wife and first child
will be forced to beg for alms;
their connection to community
lies on the floor with splayed out palms.From Ayatollahs to Mutawah,
there's a religious paternity;
like the blazing sun overhead
a desert fixture from eternity.The west wind blows on dry,
not a single palm tree to sway;
Al-Jabbat continues the same
withering without wasting away.
The camels after the sun has gone down,
lie in wait for a brand new dawn.
Darkness never quite settles
at the Sign of the Open Palm.~~ ~~ ~~
"Assalamu-alaikum" means, loosely, "Peace be upon you."
"Wa'alaikum assalam" is the reply (loosely: "And also
upon you")
"Mutawah" - Saudi Arabian religious police
Insha-Allah "God-willing, I shall"