Alhambra Poem by guillermo veloso

Lightning ripped through the black sky
Exposing the shy mountains to the North
I have long sensed these
Cool rains dripping through the cracked
Moorish lattice of my dreams
Bare ancient walls, druid bonfires, a thousand voiceless voices
As the good traveler,
I had not intended on arriving but,
Here I stand, my reflection,
Shattered on the shattered mirror of a forgotten
Moorish fountain
I have gathered many stones
Many shells, myths and bone to reach
This one moment
This one place, still
What have I profited from the
Miles?
Loves?
Detours?
I've trodden
So many roads
So much gained so much lost
Only to
Stand here
Alone
Alone, at this moment
To justify the dead
To give them meaning
In my hidden memories
Dessert sands drift sleepily
Across misshapen, moon-shadowed dunes.
Night, Night she plays
Many poets have come tonight on
This mistral of dust
All they were and all we are
Bending, dancing around forgotten notes
A wistful lute
The horizon fades into the darkening sky
All must rise now
All must rise now
All must rise now and beg
The divine stench of these duende driven souls
Poets and madmen
Still aglow in this mystical moment;
No light can long endure their flame
Rise Now and Beg