I Bare My Soul

I found my heart
in desert country
In place desired
neath spiraling heavens,
we became acquainted again.

Like spiraling arms
of dancing, giant squid,
like liquid sing
of courting whales,
the desert country
by sea once covered,
I found the place upon a cliff.

I bare my soul, Professor Norbis,
you, Knight Errant, of The 1001 Arabian nights.
In Tucson, you help me unload the station wagon.
Far from the markets of Istanbul, here in desert country,
I have the space to give to you anew.

To rid myself, at last, of excess
carried from as far away as Casablanca.
Before then, Haifa.
Before, then, God knows where
the wanderings of a Sephardi

I, the anglicized Yasmin,
the proper speaking Abigail,
bares the soul.
Friendship to the O. Norbis.
The trunk,
its contents
to the Salvation Army.