![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Manuel_Orazi_Salome_1930-233x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
-1-<\/p>\n
She veils the eyes of the prophets
\nand coalesces from the night
\nprofound, meaningful<\/p>\n
the flames of her pupils
\ncool to auburn and seductive
\n— whirl — in a desert of her making
\nand they move her closer to that goal
\nthough she cannot say her master’s name<\/p>\n
or point him out to us
\nwith the certainty of a stargazing priest
\nin the city, which has so many names,
\nmasters and minarets, so many priests,
\nso many calls to prayer
\nvying for the souls of the faithful.<\/p>\n
She slips past the guards
\nin silence; they smile
\nand do not search her —
\nher naked body. What does she have
\nto conceal? Some flaw, perhaps<\/p>\n
a voice like breaking glass? thoughts
\ninane and childish? a deluge of chatter
\nto extinguish love’s torpid cinders
\nafter the fact? No matter.<\/p>\n
They laugh and speak of their master
\nwishing they were him, to have<\/p>\n
what he has: the power
\nto draw such beauties to his bed
\nand shut them up, night after night<\/p>\n
-2-<\/p>\n
Their qareen shriek a warning, nails<\/em> -3-<\/p>\n The tent is a palace inside Their master smokes hashish from a hookah “Are the prophets not at times silent?” she The guards outside fail to hear him, -4-<\/p>\n Qareen stand over him<\/em> -1- She veils the eyes of the prophets and coalesces from the night profound, meaningful the flames of her pupils cool to auburn and seductive — whirl — in a desert of her making and they move her closer to that goal though she cannot say her master’s name or point him out to us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1831"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1833,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions\/1833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\npiercing into — through — the souls<\/em>
\nof the watchful guards, those wardens<\/em>
\nunable to hear the whispers given in sleep<\/em>
\nwhen so wide awake.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nheaped with bolts of silk and satin, a box
\nof gold filigree with billowing clouds of platinum,
\na heaven of gemstones sequestered within.<\/p>\n
\nand speaks of the prophets — men and women —
\nwho come to him every night as he sleeps
\non the same bed that he’d love to share
\nwith her. “Are they always right?” she asks,
\ndrawing a shebriya from her mouth. He thinks
\nthis a wonderful trick, and tells her so.<\/p>\n
\nwhispers, revealing another trick
\nof the blade.<\/p>\n
\nor they mistake his dying gasp
\nfor one of pleasure. She, enticing Sila,
\nleaves in the dawn as she arrived;
\nthey only smile as she walks away,
\nnaked and unashamed.<\/p>\n
\nand disturb his mirroring pool<\/em>
\nwith tears of corundum and of jade<\/em><\/p>\nillustration is Salome by Manuel Orazi, 1930<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"