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BAB MAHROUK: THIRSTY (PJB)
I’m walking here
even when I’m not here
I’m walking here
feeling my feet on the stones
And when I’m here
It’s hot and it’s dry, burned
And I stop and wonder
What does it take to quench a thirst?
I enter here
always a little late
And it happened here
by the gate in the western walls
Don’t want to linger here
It’s hot and it’s dry, burned
And I stop and wonder
What does it take to quench a thirst
I’m thirsty but not for water
I’m thirsty but my eyes are full
I’m thirsty maybe not for water
Thirsty deep in my soul.
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2. |
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BAB GUISSA: IS MY ESSENCE SWEET? (PJB)
Is my essence sweet? Is my gaze true?
Is my heart right though often soft-diffused?
Promise nearly met, latticed light above
Heaven a secluded space, heaven is enough
Cedar on the wind, softly moves the day
Echo in the pointed arch, finding what remains
Curving that repeats summons the divine
Hush within suspended air, seeking far inside
Covered in the dust, buried but intense
Is my essence sweet? Have I done my best?
Is my intention raised? Does a voice intone?
Can the walls have memory? Does the gate know?
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3. |
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BAB SIDI BOUJIDA: MY FLAWS (PJB)
I could make a list of my flaws
And it would be a list most impressive
Cracks and whorls and scars
Going sideways, starting at the shoulder
Ending far below
I could make a list of my flaws
Current, ancient, recent
And all the times I recall
And recoil at the choices and the outcomes
I could make a list of the times
That I shot an arrow or received one
Places, words and actions
Like the hairline cracks on the wall
Or on the eyes, the mouth, the brow
But we only have the way ahead
Trod with a measured gate
Trod with a gathered weight
As we go through a weathered gate.
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4. |
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BAB FTOUH: PARADISE LOST (PJB)
So this is the gate I stand at the gate
And enter the city of longing
Not even my love can find me
In this place you walk alone
Some were born here, and they never leave
It becomes a nesting place
Those streets that know their stories
Some hope to leave one day
Some have learned here, pursued a dream
Some have been pursued
And never told their stories
Will they be told one day?
Gate of forgotten history
Gate of a new memory
Paradise lost to mortar and time
Gate of great symmetry
Gate of new identity
Two hands enfolding
Held with a sigh
Soldiers and sellers
Smokers and singers
To the north
To the east
To the sea
To the mountains
So this is the gate I stand at the gate
And enter the city of longing
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5. |
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BAB LAHDID: THE STATELY ONE (PJB)
The stately one apart, apart
Arising there, hidden, hidden
At the high point
I will not tell you all that I have seen
But if you pause here I might reveal a bit
In uneven shadows
If you must know it, metal is my name
And if you learn me you must be tempered
And stand serenely
The stately one apart, apart
Arising there hidden, hidden
At the high point
Stay awhile, it’s been so long
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6. |
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YES WE HAVE HOPE (BAB BOUJLOUD, FES)
RECEIVING AND GIVING
GIVING AND GROWING
GETTING A BLESSING
SETTING IT FREE
HAVING A FEELING
FINDING THE HEALING
RICHES ABUNDANT
GIVEN TO ME
NO MATTER WHO WE ARE
WE ALL COME THROUGH THE ARCH
AND FIND A WAY TO THRIVE
WE’RE FOLLOWING THE THREAD
TO BETTER TIMES AHEAD
TOGETHER WE SURVIVE
YES WE HAVE HOPE
SO GREEN ON THE INSIDE
SO BLUE ON THE OUTSIDE
HERE AT THE GATE WHERE
ALL OF US MEET
UPHILL AND DOWNHILL
THIS IS OUR CITY
EVERYONE MOVING
FEELING THE BEAT
NO MATTER WHO WE ARE
WE ALL COME THROUGH THE ARCH
AND FIND A WAY TO THRIVE
WE’RE FOLLOWING THE THREAD
TO BETTER TIMES AHEAD
TOGETHER WE SURVIVE
YES WE HAVE HOPE
PJB
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7. |
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HIDDEN CHRONICLE (BAB RIH)
THE WIND MOVES
IN SHADOWS
YOU GO THROUGH IT NOW
TOO FAST
BUT SOLID
IN RHYTHM
HIDDEN CHRONICLE
AS YOU PASS
DO YOU EVER, REALLY NEVER
CONTEMPLATE IN TIME
WHAT IT WAS, AN EVOLUTION
NOW SO MUTE INSIDE
NOW SO MUTE INSIDE
AND IT ALL MOVES
IN CONTEXT
WE GO THROUGH IT NOW
SO RUSHED
BUT STEADY
IN RHYTHM
HIDDEN CHRONICLE
IN THE DUST
DO YOU EVER, REALLY NEVER
CONTEMPLATE IN TIME
WHAT IT WAS, AN EVOLUTION
NOW SO MUTE INSIDE
NOW SO MUTE INSIDE
THE WIND MOVES
IN SHADOWS
HIDDEN CHRONICLE
THE WIND
PJB Meknes, March 2022
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8. |
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SURROUND ME WITH BLISS (BAB AL-KHEMIS)
SURROUND ME WITH BLISS
LEAD ME TO AMBER
FILL ME WITH JOY
AS THE FULL MOON SKY
OPEN TO ALL
THE ROUGH AND THE REGAL
SCALLOPED AND ANGLED
GREEN, BLUE AND WHITE
ENTER THIS ARCH
HERE, ALL ARE WELCOME
SPLENDID AND GENEROUS
POETRY IN STONE
HERE IN THIS PLACE
THURSDAY AND EVERY DAY
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
WE’RE NOT ALONE.
PJB
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9. |
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What Is Beauty (Bab Mansour, Meknes)
They say / I am / the most beautiful
But what / is / beauty?
They say / I am / the most beautiful
But what / is / beauty?
I stand / watching
The span of time
I stand / watching
Yet don’t know my own reflection
Over time / a gaze / changes
Over time / my place / emerges
Over time / a gaze / changes
Over time / my place / emerges
What is bought, and what is sold
What is draped, and what is naked
Who is strong, who stands alone
Who is gone, and what has faded
strong, alone, gone, faded
And still I stay
And still I stay
They say / I am / the most beautiful
But what / is / beauty?
PJB
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10. |
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BROCADE (for El Haji Abdelkader Ouazzani) PJB
Fes location: Place Lalla Yeddouna
I went to the city
because I had to see the city
see Fes-El-Bali
safe from harm
I went to the river
because I had to see the river
and when I followed the river
I found him
And the master works the thread
over time the pattern spreads
from his blessed hands the brilliant colors flowing from the loom
Silver and emerald
gold and crimson
woven together
his brocade
And the mastery remains
from a pile of colored skeins
In a fabric built of time and skill and dedicated heart
I went to the river
because I had to see the river
and when I followed the river
I found him
Brocade,
Addibaj*
*addibaj is brocade in Moroccan arabic
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11. |
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IN A WOMAN’S WORLD (FONDOUK BARKA)
In a woman’s world
We lift to the skies
In a woman’s world
We open our eyes
Our stories,
Our mothers, our line
My journey
The song of my life
Our women, These women We women, All women
In a woman’s world
في عالم المرأة
نرفع إلى السماء
في عالم المرأة
نفتح أعیننا
قصصنا
أمھاتنا ، نسلنا
رحلتي
اغنیة حیاتي
نساؤنا ، ھؤلاء النساء
نحن النساء ، كل النساء
PJB
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12. |
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INTANGIBLE (Maristan Sidi Frej/Souk Al Henna)
What have you / left for me to find
Here in these walls / this shadow there
What is that / soft behind the door
A curve, a line / a time before
It seems to be / intangible
The resonance / of time
It seems to be / intangible
Your traces, so / intangible
In these halls / a map to where it was
Patterns faintly under-step
What is that / a clue to where you were
Countless nights / dreamless sleep
It seems to be / intangible
The resonance / of time
It seems to be / intangible
Your traces, so / intangible
Coda:
Come to me / if you will
Explain the way of change
I am ready, I am here, and I am not afraid 3x
PJB
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G2G2G (Gate To Gate To Gate) is a song cycle started in 2021 by Paula Jeanine Bennett celebrating the architecture, history and heart of Fes-El-Bali and Meknes, Morocco.
