I am all alone in this house, the silence is so welcome. Most but not all, people in America are afraid of silence and they have to keep on chatting, whether it makes sense to them or others.
I decided to visit the Wine Store. Like Omar Khayyam who would visit the Tavern in search of wine, I too was in search of something or other.
I thought of my good friends M and G as I looked for a Pinot Noir.
With my newly found love for France, I got a bottle of French Pinot Noir. As I came out of the wine store I had this strange sensation. I do not belong here or to now. An aura of magic surrounded me and I enjoyed the place and time and feeling very happy .
Ever since the original Maqroll came into my life, this inspiration for homelessness bound to a vague profession and imprecise nature of his citizenship has followed me . I wrote this in 2007.
On receiving a note from the Malabar coast that home of an aging Jew was about to be passed on to him, he imagined himself ensconced there, waited on by thin Malabari Moslems who questioned their faith, with his traveling companion, the Prince of Palms and the little girl who loved him so much that she continually adoringly attached herself to other lovers in faraway lands she dreamt of visiting with him. Making vagrancy a profession young people all over the world could aspire to, he plans to convert the 700 year old synagogue, when it is not in use, of course, into a Museum of Vagrant Peoples where others may find refuge from the restriction imposed upon them by their fear of being alive.
Why are people so eager to embrace uniformity, charmlessness and conformity ?
Days pass by, they roll into years as they are glued by disappointments.
This song was initially sung by Charles Aznavour. The first album that I bought at a record store near where I was staying, was one by Charles Aznavour.
Many years later I did meet the ENT doctor who specialized in SOUNDS who had been Aznavourian's doctor (he was a dedicated Armenian!). The doctor was jewish, Abitbol by name who grew up in Casablanca before the Arabs drove his family and thousands of others into exile in France, Israel and elsewhere
There is no time for disappointment. The time for enjoyment is now
My barber in Marrakech is waiting to cut my hair, I must not disappoint him.
Nowruz is around the corner, why not meet each other in Dubai that town in the desert without any charm except it is close to Iran.
I walked out of the wine store, a lovely afternoon in the tropics and said thank you to no one in particular. I was glad the clerk having seen me before at the store added on a discount so that I can participate in Omar Khayyam's pleasure in the tavern..
Charles Aznavour is no more ..
but I have fallen in love with France ..
ten years ago I met a three year old poet along the wild coast of Brittany and I must thank her ..
I forget my calendars and do not know when I should be where, mainly which airport ...
The chilean jewish film maker Alejandro Jadorowsky will make a new film. He is 90. Buzz Aldrin the astronaut is in the news. He is 93.
This is not the time to get old too soon .
The above video of Chris Botti and la belle sans regrets (by Sting)
Life has to be lived SANS regrets
and to those of whom who bemoan the price of tomato sauce at supermarkets, think of the thousands and millions of people living under conditions not of their choosing, unable to express themselves except in private conversations...oppressors of thoughts and behaviour and here we in the west, bemoan the lack of our favourite capuccino at Starbucks, I once asked a colleague of mine, would you like something from Starbucks, she in her defiant mood said , yes, health care for their employees.
I do not drink Starbucks Coffee
Meet me in Plaza Dorrego in Buenos Aires. we can look through old books, post cards and stamps and end up drinking a coffee at Cafe Dorrego
I live in this magical place, of my own creation, please do not disturb. If you can join, please come
I can introduce you to Nawfor at Cafe Corsé in Rue Lenine in Tunis
Noordine is my concierge in Marrakech where the mountain amazigh play their amazing drums in the open air at djem al fina surrounded by mint tea drinking locals nodding their heads in unison
While a monkey trainer makes a living out of his animal who poses for tourists for a few dirhams.
Please do not ask me the price of unrequitted loves and where you can buy the fear of being alive in this wonderful world.
Please take a moment and think about IRAN..
You may not love Jafar Panahi or Ashgar Farhadi, you may have not heard of Ahmad Shamloo or Soheil Nafisi..
But take a moment to think of the sufferings and aspirations and dreams and oppression.. things you cherish and things you dont have to put up with living in democratic countries like we do ..
Happy NOWRUZ my dear friends. Sorry I cannot join you .
BUT I can join my dear friends in Kuala Lumpur for CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE RABBIT or join a good friend of mine in Hanoi to celebrate TET , the New year of the Cat
Xong Hi Fatt Choi.. to YMC and FA, Ho/Kit and all my loves in Malaysia ..
If you are trying to decipher my nationality and passport, I have this to say
I, said Maqroll, am a Jew
