RANDOM HANDSHAKES - ALI H. RADDAOUI

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Eid Ul-Fitri in Sfax, Tunisia

Part of me cozies up into my bedding, beats at primal speed,
Exists, subsists, ruminates, punctuates without a mark
As early morning Eid Ul-Fitri rituals seep into the breeze
Ushering one Season into the next.
Between the thick of darkness and the hour of dawn
Is a moment that escapes the onlooker.
Stepping outside of me
People, total strangers, meet
Exchange greetings and do small talk,
Welcome this stranger into the traditions of town
Explain how local seafarers brought Shermula and Salty Fish dishes
Into the day-to-day parlance of Sfax cuisine.
The other part of me is now high on intercity coach station caffeine
Savors the moment, cogitates it, locates self within it,
Tables its equations and tackles its riddles
Captures it as structure before another episode settles in.
I relish both moments and think it neat
To seize the strands of both ends by the hand
To scaffold my existence
As one side knuckles up into the other.
I feel rooted, having found my bearings on this pedestal,
And being on the cusp of something new.

Ali H. Raddaoui-June 15, 2018

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