Flying With Nightingales
by
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The Oudayas Gardens, Afternoon
Beneath the bougainvillea sit blind beggars, cowls upturned
as if to shield their sightless eyes from sun they've never seen.
They hear the children's cries, the chatter of veiled women.
Can they smell the banks of flowers
which I draw in red, and blue, and green?
This is the afternoon.
Where do they go when keepers close Oudayas' gate?
I go to my villa in the town, walls, turrets, blossoms in my head,
I breathe the heavy scent of jasmine as the evening falls.
I lie abed and rhapsodize lush gardens, houris, and exotic sights.
Where do you find repose, old beggar?
Is your bed the cobbled street, your sweet perfume
the urine of the lowly ass? Or do you find
that sleep brings sight, and all the cries, the smells.
the colors that are lost by day, through Allah's grace
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About the Book
Mi querido Simón, ¿quieres que te cuente un cuento? ¡Ay, mi Dios! Cuánto me gustaría poder hacerlo. Si se pudiera dar marcha atrás al tiempo yo lo haría y me detendría en aquellos años felices en que tú y yo nos sentábamos debajo de aquel gran árbol de nuestro patio. Sí, con aquel otro buen amigo que nosotros quisimos tanto y con el que disfrutábamos sentados en aquella silla vieja y destartalada, mirando el cielo a través de sus ramas y contando cuentos. Fueron años felices, ¿verdad Simón? Pero todo pasa, o peor aún, todo termina.
About the Author
An Ohio native, Harter has some 20 books he has authored, co-authored or translated. His favorite, which he also illustrated, the Countess, he calls a "satirical novel in verse". His translations include two volumes of poetry by Spanish Nobel Laureates and seven novels from the French. His wartime exploits involved the liberation of central France for which he has been given many honors. He holds a doctorate in Spanish literature and a Doctorate-es-Lettres honoring his innovations in international education. After 38 years of marriage, extensive travel and a long career as a teacher, administrator, translator and scholar, Hugh makes his home on the seacoast of New Hampshire.