Yes, it is difficult
Let the challenge build you
Continue to climb that ladder
Keep pushing on through
Never give up
Take advantage of opportunity
Think positive thoughts
You will eventually reach your victory

If apologies could reverse the spindle
Unraveling the whole sweater until
We're shepherd's again, I'd take the time to
Appreciate within, the fine line between
Consent and Guilt.

If apologies could take us back to that
First time we made eye contact
I'd be ready to fight my own arrogance
To dispel the venomous traits
Before they seek to own your
Elegance

If apologies could make whole again
What was never meant to be broken
I'd never learn my ******* lesson
Since stone erodes slowly in the wind
Cause at our core, we're all just grains of sand,
And "sorry" is more than just a word, it's
My only hope to make amends.

" A neighbor's BBQ was a bit of a bore, until
what i saw.
She had to be sent from the heavens, i even looked
to see if she had a pair of wings.
Her entrance was as if she was floating over
the blades of the freshly mowed Kentucky Blue grass.
Friends took her by the hands, and rushed her to my
side.
Laughter stood meek, and quite during the introductions
of our names.
Our distinguished guest Harry. Along with his lovely wife
Sharry Replied. " Jack, i would like for you to meet my
most resent Best Girlfriend Jill."
Now the laughter exploded.
I was taken by surprise, and could only say, "Let's go up the hill."
She took my joke well, and moved in to take my hand.
We talked for hours while listening to the late arrival of
a 1970 Soft Rock Band.
So as the old saying goes. "All good things come to an end."
As did our evening.
The months flew by so quickly. Yes she was wearing my ring.
Becoming Mr. & Mrs. truly was a terrific thing.
Having children was now on our minds, and we wanted
to do something special.
We lived up to the story book rhyme.
Finding the hill that suited us us both, had
all the beauty you can imagine.
Looking over the canyon's *****.
The time came, and there we were.
Taking each others hand as they walked up the
hill singing. "Jack and Jill are going up the hill, but
not to fetch a bucket of water."
9 months later they both sat down
holding softly their new baby daughter."

I
He was intoxicated
by the scent of the coffee
dancing in the morning
to his mother’s humming.
II
Then a blacksmith - his father -
taught him how to hammer
form out of chaos
in the muddle of force
and a sweaty anvil.
III
Now if he wished to see
the sunness of Sun
and the greenness of Tree
he would summon the specter
of an Arab maiden - Fatma -
who was once Berber
to come write on his face
with her soothing finger:
“Salam, my anguished lover.”
IV
When green-eyed Fatma comes
the wreaths of coffee
Would come with her
writing in the air;
and all the songs of history
would come marching too,
in battle array,
like an army dressed
in civilian clothes
for a dance in Rio.
V
Fatma’s hair –
a still cascade
of thin goldeness,
a tide of watery fire,
a flight motionless  
of a million birds who
speak in tongues
and laugh
to the stone unlettered
of his fidgety cenotaph .

© LazharBouazzi, Carthage, TUN, August 27, 2016