Alain Ilan Braun

Someday, my tree will touch the sky
I was promised
In expectation its leaves rustle in the wind
And whisper a thousand prayers
...

The Swallows’ Spring Dance

O swallows, please dance in my murky sky
And inscribe your lightning arabesques
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Before Thee
Gold is tarnishing
The earth is getting misty
The cloud is weeping rain
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In the pure gold of the Divine Light
A new world is unfolding
And taking off
Land and water separated
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Have you ever heard
On a summer evening
The violins and the cellos sobbing?
While high in the sky
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Too often, my tired soul filled with doubts
Resumes its journey back to far-away Egypt
How it takes delight to find again the deep and burning nights
Of ancient Egypt
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There is no past or imperfect tense
In the Creator’s Utterance
Everything is present and perfect
What has been proclaimed at the Dawn of Time
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Behind the flashing neon signs
Strange glowing glimmers
One thinks of fire-flies
Ancient and magnificent mirages
...

In its deeply mysterious echoes my memory reminded me
That once I was a hard stone
Perhaps even the cornerstone of an arrogant temple
Or a simple grindstone?
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Humanity!
Vast fields of red poppies
Red spots on the wheat’s gold
A few drops of blood
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On this glorious day the church was packed
Glowing with magnificence from all this gold and silver
The candles light dripping like rivers overflowing
The whole town craving for true faith
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Little Adam sleeps and dreams
In his mother’s inner palace
Little Adam in his tightly closed fists holds Knowledge
Like a delicate full bloom flower
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Forgive me if I forgot
The Alhambra and the Alcazar
The columns, the facades
And their stately porticos
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Friend, you ask me
But Who is God?
Do you know the wind
The one that sweeps the plain
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Draw near your ear this shell
And listen to the sea of my words
Revealing within its waves
My love
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Everything is carefully recorded
In letters of fire
On the parchment of my life
Furrows etched by my misdeeds
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Nothing will stop the River
It flows, it flows for ever
From the celestial Above, powerful and glorious
Carting within its waters myriads of mysteries and wonders
...