Moon’s Stories
it’s in the moon
we become lost,
never knowing where
it will shine, and that
moon travels so far,
on
caravans into Isfahan, or
silky days in Beijing, shining
light on the sleeping olives
in Palestine, and hiding
behind the sun
or at night, sometimes unseen
in storms, then on other nights
when it’s calm, drifting brightly
to hear the fado in Ponte Del Gado, or
shifting again
hearing flamenco in Algeciras, lighting
white houses of Tunis, slowly
listening to Fairouz in the mountains
of Lebanon, in Machgara,
singing a’tabee—
then later journeys
to children in Chicago,
blues drifting down the street—
while some are
wondering
who he is,
others wonder why he smiles so–
but on the sands close to the sea,
lovers feel one another’s skin,
eyes and hearts aglow,
making love
as the sea washes over their bodies,
while moon bathes them in its celestial mystery
© sam hamod, 4.1.14
Sam Hamod has a Ph.D from The Writers Workshop at The University of Iowa (one of the few ever given), has taught at Iowa, Princeton, Michigan and Howard, and overseas; he has published 15 books, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by both Ray Carver and Ishmael Reed (but never expected to enter that clique who decides such prizes), and has also been a blues singer, jazz musician, owned a bar on the south side of Gary, Indiana, became Director of The Islamic Center of Washington, DC, and now lives in Princeton and runs the international literary site, www.contemporaryworldliterature.com Also, in his past life, he founded and ran Third World News in Washington, DC and wrote for television and also founded and edited, www.todaysalternativenews.com, and www.contemporaryworldpoetry.com. He may be contacted at drsamhamod@gmail.com He is also available for readings and workshops anywhere; he is, as he says, “a free man in Paris”, tho he lives in Princeton, NJ, LOL
