together we are the fire

Silvery Pond in Starry Earth

Rose petals mound of their own
before you die, as you are dying
comets spin their tails in heaven
a single powerful thought appears
loudest colors form a cloud
this image is meant to connect you
wondrous being, magnificent creature
back to your original form

A silvery pond in starry earth
is your personal portal
beyond it, a thousand skies, ripe for taking
you can retreat before your time
if you ask and you never ask, you always tell
maybe you can figure what that thought is
harmful truth or memories unsifted
you might spend the rest of your life trying

More you bellow, more they bury
if you manage to discover this thought
mountains of dust, rivers of charnel
you can always go within it
golden mirror reflects only the night
or use the thought for deepest meditation
garlands of lotus and twirling feathers
humans can command

Youssef Alaoui-Fdili
Salerno, Italy
100TPC World Conference
©2015 Michael Dickel

Golden mountain, blaze of trees
once you discover the sacred image
script hidden deep in emerald
you will be immediately brought
do not be afraid, stand brave eyes open
into the frankness of death
your absolute truth is never evil

Do not go there yet
bleary wanderer
you will know your time

For ND, PCR, VB

Our story begins out here
where everything begins
and ends

We are of the stars and
that’s why we marvel at them
so when we look to the sky
and consider the divine
we are intuitively looking back
at our origins

Cosmos is the deepest mirror
a bottomless lake dotted with fire
larger than tools can measure
reflecting our faces back to us
humming the consciousness of all things

As far away as you can get
is where you find your soul

Far from city lights we have come
to witness the brilliance of the sky
one of us can control the stars
with a twist of his hand
we watch shapes he makes for hours
shivering on the desert floor

And what is a star but a heaving
alchemical cauldron of pure light
pure creativity
rich in life-giving elements
these are a million fires he says
same as our sun
our star, this is us

Watch these embryonic souls
dance and leap from the surface
of the sun, lightning winds of fire
to scatter across the cosmos
like dandelion blooms

Look, this one will be the soul of a comet
this one will be a moon worm or a martian
astronaut, this one will drape and fold
at the heart of the Aurora Borealis
and who are we but alchemical vats
of power and creativity

Our souls are inextricably linked in cosmic
rhythm, twisted together like
branches, to build you or strangle you
depending on how you treat your people
yes the people are yours and you are theirs

Then he speaks to us at length
regarding the exogenous rhythm
of the unicorn and challenges us
to consider just how far
one could possibly go with a person:

Is it your friend, your enemy
your rival, your lover?
all of the above, treat one another
with dignity
we are children of the stars
siblings forever

We sing the Marseillaise together
in hushed tones then, with surprising venom
he says you know who they are coming for
don’t you, they’re coming for you

We do not know whether to cry
in fear or leap for joy, have we
finally lost our minds?
We rush to the cities to find out
droves filling streets in protest
we find the Marseillaise crumpled
in the gutter with all the old songs

People sing new songs
they bring new fire to share
with others and that prompts
newer fire and parades of such light
it was true, they had come for us
to forge new ways to navigate the stars

I turn to you and we see
flames dance in one another’s eyes
tiny salamanders turning on their tails
smoke and colors fill the air
we know the future is inevitable
and we say

every child of the sun
together we are the fire

Youssef Alaoui-Fdili…

…is an Arab-Latino, born in California. His mother is Colombiana. His father was Moroccan. The Alaoui-Fdilis are originally from Fez. His brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins are today mostly in Casablanca and Rabat. His family and heritage are an endless source of inspiration for his varied, dark, spiritual and carnal writings. He has an MFA in Poetics from New College of California. There, he studied Classical Arabic, Spanish Baroque and Contemporary Moroccan poetry. He is also well versed in the most dour and macabre literature of the 19th Century. His poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, 580 Split, Cherry Bleeds, Virgogray Press, Red Fez, Big Bridge, Dusie Press, Paris Lit Up, The Opiate, and nominated for a Pushcart at Full of Crow. Youssef is an original creator of the East Bay literary arts festival “Beast Crawl.” In 2012 he created Paper Press Books & Associates Publishing Company. This press offers several important books of poetry and one poetry and art compendium.