..." said the mighty whisper.
And Ahmed not only danced to kick away the dust, but sang as
if from the highest minaret in a great land, and the large heart hidden grew larger and banged
itself to life.
And if for an instant Ahmed lifted his gaze to search the land,
prepared to cry out, then the huge heart slackened and the sand froze, so that he
fixed his gaze only on his feet, which moved and leaped and pummeled the hidden heart as he shouted
wild words of love to ex hume, to revive, to prolong, to rouse.
" YesV came the
mighty whisper, the buried voice . " Ah, yes, son of my
heart and life, he who dances to waken fire and know no limits to the sky or earth. Dance, sing, dance, there!"
And with this last explosion, the sands were riven and, like a mountain,
a storm, a celebra tory rocket, Gonn was rebirthed ,
soared, and lifted Ahmed with him.
Among the clouds, both laughed and Ahmed's
tears were tears of relief and joy, and so accepted, as Gonn hurled
questions:
"Does the caravan exist?"
"No," said Ahmed.
"Do you see it anywhere?"
"No," replied Ahmed.
"And the men of that long march ?"
"Are gone," Ahmed responded.
"And someone's father with them?"
"And that father with them."
"Which means this present cannot blind
you to
the future? Good," said this great mouth in this great head on this great body.
"See morel Be a proper gravedigger. Let your soul instruct your heart, let your
heart speak to your tongue. Exhale. Celebrate. Shout!"
Ahmed inhaled deeply of the high sweet clear-water air.
"Let go!" said the huge mouth,
almost en gulfing
him.
Ahmed exploded out all of that incredible air.
And the dry sea below, the ocean tide of shore on shore of
dunes shouldering dunes, shivered.
" Again !"
Ahmed exhaled.
And the sand swarmed up like locust flights.
And what lay beneath was revealed.
"Great Gonn ." Ahmed was panicked into de light. "Have I
done this?"
"All this has Ahmed done."
And below were not cities buried stone on stone, but marble
cliffs from which one day those towns would be built, and atop the cliffs were blood, bone, and
webbed creatures that flung themselves out to kite-sail like scythes to cut the wind; grinning
reptiles with oiled, unsa vory smiles.
"How terrible!" Ahmed flinched and raised his hands to shield his face. "What made
them?"
"Why, the One God whose nightmare gave them birth."
"How are they called?"
"Don't call, they might come. Nameless
they were for a million beast generations, until on museum walls they were
given names. But these bony kites were shut like fans long before you woke in the womb.
Their wingprint smiles are fixed in stone below the cliffs.
No ape or man
ever witnessed their flight. Only their hi eroglyph smiles remain. Quick!"
And Gonn and Ahmed
fled upward in a mid night explosion of bats fired from caves, flung out to feed on winds of locust and moth and mosquito.
And the sky was empty now as trees arose and batwing squirrels
capered across the moon.
"Flight," whispered Gonn . "And flight again. High journeys to
drive men mad with envy when at last man came. Flight."
"Flight," said Ahmed.
And then the mighty friend to Ahmed ex haled, as did the boy,
and more sand sifted away on a shoreline as vast as the eternal sky to reveal streets and
towns and people fixed like statues there, stranded as the dry sea
vanished and they all
looked to the cliffs where once the dread kites soared, but now as the sun rose in the midst of darkness a man and his
son, clothed in golden
feathers embedded in bright wax, stood atiptoe on the cliff's rim. "Higher," cried Ahmed,
"I must see!" And Gonn -Ben-Allah spun higher to see the man and his son with golden wings
leap, thrust, fly off the
cliff, with the son mounting higher and higher as the old man, alarmed, tried to shout him down. But the noon sun fired his wings to melt the wax to golden tears which dripped from wrist,
elbow, and arm. And he fell like a stone from the sky.
"Catch
And Ahmed not only danced to kick away the dust, but sang as
if from the highest minaret in a great land, and the large heart hidden grew larger and banged
itself to life.
And if for an instant Ahmed lifted his gaze to search the land,
prepared to cry out, then the huge heart slackened and the sand froze, so that he
fixed his gaze only on his feet, which moved and leaped and pummeled the hidden heart as he shouted
wild words of love to ex hume, to revive, to prolong, to rouse.
" YesV came the
mighty whisper, the buried voice . " Ah, yes, son of my
heart and life, he who dances to waken fire and know no limits to the sky or earth. Dance, sing, dance, there!"
And with this last explosion, the sands were riven and, like a mountain,
a storm, a celebra tory rocket, Gonn was rebirthed ,
soared, and lifted Ahmed with him.
Among the clouds, both laughed and Ahmed's
tears were tears of relief and joy, and so accepted, as Gonn hurled
questions:
"Does the caravan exist?"
"No," said Ahmed.
"Do you see it anywhere?"
"No," replied Ahmed.
"And the men of that long march ?"
"Are gone," Ahmed responded.
"And someone's father with them?"
"And that father with them."
"Which means this present cannot blind
you to
the future? Good," said this great mouth in this great head on this great body.
"See morel Be a proper gravedigger. Let your soul instruct your heart, let your
heart speak to your tongue. Exhale. Celebrate. Shout!"
Ahmed inhaled deeply of the high sweet clear-water air.
"Let go!" said the huge mouth,
almost en gulfing
him.
Ahmed exploded out all of that incredible air.
And the dry sea below, the ocean tide of shore on shore of
dunes shouldering dunes, shivered.
" Again !"
Ahmed exhaled.
And the sand swarmed up like locust flights.
And what lay beneath was revealed.
"Great Gonn ." Ahmed was panicked into de light. "Have I
done this?"
"All this has Ahmed done."
And below were not cities buried stone on stone, but marble
cliffs from which one day those towns would be built, and atop the cliffs were blood, bone, and
webbed creatures that flung themselves out to kite-sail like scythes to cut the wind; grinning
reptiles with oiled, unsa vory smiles.
"How terrible!" Ahmed flinched and raised his hands to shield his face. "What made
them?"
"Why, the One God whose nightmare gave them birth."
"How are they called?"
"Don't call, they might come. Nameless
they were for a million beast generations, until on museum walls they were
given names. But these bony kites were shut like fans long before you woke in the womb.
Their wingprint smiles are fixed in stone below the cliffs.
No ape or man
ever witnessed their flight. Only their hi eroglyph smiles remain. Quick!"
And Gonn and Ahmed
fled upward in a mid night explosion of bats fired from caves, flung out to feed on winds of locust and moth and mosquito.
And the sky was empty now as trees arose and batwing squirrels
capered across the moon.
"Flight," whispered Gonn . "And flight again. High journeys to
drive men mad with envy when at last man came. Flight."
"Flight," said Ahmed.
And then the mighty friend to Ahmed ex haled, as did the boy,
and more sand sifted away on a shoreline as vast as the eternal sky to reveal streets and
towns and people fixed like statues there, stranded as the dry sea
vanished and they all
looked to the cliffs where once the dread kites soared, but now as the sun rose in the midst of darkness a man and his
son, clothed in golden
feathers embedded in bright wax, stood atiptoe on the cliff's rim. "Higher," cried Ahmed,
"I must see!" And Gonn -Ben-Allah spun higher to see the man and his son with golden wings
leap, thrust, fly off the
cliff, with the son mounting higher and higher as the old man, alarmed, tried to shout him down. But the noon sun fired his wings to melt the wax to golden tears which dripped from wrist,
elbow, and arm. And he fell like a stone from the sky.
"Catch