Hawad – Tamajaght

from Nomad Testament – Hawad – Translated by Judith Fleiss from the French translation of the Tamajaght text by the poet and Hélène Claudot-Hawad

For seven days and seven nights

above the precipice

 from dawn to dusk 

reddened spears and arms 

arms of men and arms

of the saddlehorn cross 

The toughened nomad eye 

sucks the horizon to the marrow 

Night and day 

the bows are strung 

the whip lashes 

the jaws grind bridlebits 

and the knotted cords drone 

Above the drum where 

the fatal cry will resound 

the Master blacksmith has knelt 

All is ready all is lashed down 

Men and animals

chimera of gestures and sighs 

bridled tornadoes 

each one waiting for 

a pillar of the tribe 

to break the bond 

tying them to earth

fray of bodies and voices 

cameleers and horsemen 

drenched in garnet 

fleeting tincture weaned from indigo 

royal cagles and falcon scouts 

thieving birds of prey masked 

and crested 

pilgrims lamenting 

choral dirge of drops 

separated from mother ocean

Astride the old dappled she camel 

the fool Attawal languishing the distant 

ragged and nostalgic 

chest bulging with talismans 

hand shading eyes 

fixed gaze 

pupils spearing 

the hoops of Ti-n-El 

silver ripples in the commotion

O Ti-n-El

we have seen so many courtiers

butterfly travelers returning 

from the vigil of the Pleiades 

yet from your face 

aflame with a smile 

which sculpts fire lashes

No look has returned

as a wasp caught under the drinking trough

by the fermented sap of the vine

for you I will break the bonds

of my camel ancestor

take the reins

dance of fire

O woman erect

flame soaring aloft

Before the whirlwind takes up the staff

of no-return

and lays its forehead

on the deserted shores of the estuary

tell us

of what clay is moulded this world

towards which you lead us

like leaves abandoned to the Harmattan