The Veil

In the city, at the avenue, with the yellow cobblestone streets
Where the Arabs sold Kebab
And the smell of kosher meat met the smell or rice and beans
I saw you

In the dim of the light of twilight, I could not see your countenance
for the veil that covered your face
but your eyes, yes, your eyes
as black with fear as the speed of my beating heart I saw

I couldn’t touch, you barely could look
There, at the corner where the Armenians smoked,
and gossiped and cooked
And watched keenly, and defended their forbidden fruit.

By the fountain where the gypsies sat and played morose tunes
I danced, in my heart, for you
You danced, in your heart, for me
Beneath the veil, that veiled all but your searching eyes

On the avenue of the street they called Straight
There, where the Blackamoors wielded swords
And the whispered stories of conquest, met the songs of the Gypsies
whose sad songs touched the tip of your veil,
I saw you

The black glum veil,
that covered your black searching eyes that watered so much that
at nights, I dreamt I was drowning in them, I saw you
The eyes I saw, but once, at the city where many came to play
On the yellow cobbled stone streets
Where the Turks and the Gypsies and Armenians mixed
On the sidewalks where the Blackamoors swung their swords
I saw you, briefly, behind the veil
That covered all, but your searching eyes

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the image above.