Beside me, there is
a chesterfield pack, and
a cup of coffee that won’t last
until 4 AM, and I think
I’m spoiled, they’re the things
I need most at my elbow.
Miles Davis treats me too
leniently and I imagine him
shouting at me: “What a spoiled brat!”
that’s typical of him,
he probably said that
in the face of everyone who was
listening to his ear-watering music,
maybe just secretly, once before
and once after he realized
he became God.
Never a man, who fought
sadness by the long passages of
Miles Davis melodies, did commit
domestic violence against
his wife, children,
or even himself. And, I entertain
the belief that he knew that by heart,
though, he was never bound to declare it.
There’s no fight left in me,
All I am capable of, is a pillow fight
or a water-gun fight, and at this
hour of encapsulated darkness,
I condense all my wishes
into a single one:
I think about this beautiful lady
with a great leap of eros,
I imagine her allowing
me a night full of carnal knowledge
and practice, without me having
my heart devoted, or attached: for the very reason,
I am a member of the contemplative order
of Eros; my little Being is consecrated to prayers,
rather than works causing malaria-like sweat.
I imagine her allowing
me to have it. And, that’s
another likely chance
of Miles Davis shouting
from his grave:
“What a spoiled brat!”
I heard Miles Davis
say another thing,
This one was vociferated
louder in one of his songs,
more precisely in a melody
which traveled, to and fro
in my heart, guised both
as a prophet and beggar; it was
something like:
“SWEAT THE WORDS
OUT OF THE HOSTAGE
WITHIN YOU, THEY’RE
YOUR only RANSOM!”
and if nothing
of this happens
or comes true, I will
imagine more fascinating things,
maybe: a leaf-hopper
sucking some plant juice
will do. And then,
no tears or no coffee
will slop over the black rim
of the cup.

M. Ait Ali is a Moroccan writer and poet, who finds in words and poetry a total escape from the depressive realism of everyday life. Poetry and writing for him are both a passion and a therapy capable of taming his demons. He tries to speak the woes that the broken ones endure silently. He earned in 2016 a bachelor’s degree in renewable energies and energy efficiency at The Higher School of Technology-Agadir, (EST.) along with a diploma in advanced French.