postcards of local courthouses i found. Dallas, Dallas, and Denton respectively.
John Berger reading an extract from “Mural” by Mahmoud Darwish
still my favorite youtube video.
I See my Ghost
Coming from a Distance
Mahmoud Darwish
I look out like a balcony on what I want
I look out on my friends carrying the evening mail
wine and bread
novels and records…
I look out on a sea gull and on the trucks of soldiers
changing the trees of this place
I look out on the dog of my neighbor who emigrated
from Canada a year and a half ago…
I look out on the name Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi
who traveled from Tiberius to Egypt
on the horse of song
I look out on the Persian rose that rises up
over the iron fence
I look out like a balcony on what I want
I look out on the trees that guard the night from itself
and guard the sleep of those who want me dead…
I look out on the wind searching for its homeland
in itself…
I look out on a woman sunbathing within herself…
I look out over the procession of ancient prophets
climbing barefoot to Jerusalem
I ask: Is there a new prophet
for this new time?
I look out like a balcony on what I want
