Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn between season and season, 
      time and time, between
Hour and hour, word and word, power and power, those
     who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and oppose

     O my people, what have I done unto thee.

All of which and more I know now, but then
It was well beyond my knowing how
The Saharan sun could be so wide
Mornings so luminous at el Minzah
Afternoon shadows so cold on the Rue de la Berte
Or how lavender can explode above the straits of Hercules
Even on the next day, even on Christmas Day
The gift of being born was elusive, seeing hearing tasting touching
     knowing the scent of sweat, sex, and sea at Point Sur...
Meeting Paul Bowles I had not yet conceived the question.

     Still, might have been an interesting conversation.