wadi ayyun

We wear the mask that grins and lies,/ It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,¬/ This debt we pay to human guile;/ With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,/ And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,/ In counting all our tears and sighs?/ Nay, let them only see us, while/ We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries/ To thee from tortured souls arise./ We sing, but oh the clay is vile/ Beneath our feet, and long the mile;/ But let the world dream otherwise,/ We wear the mask!
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, 1872-1906

There is even more hidden away in the desert. If you are extremely lucky through the wadis you will find gazelle, but will most probably have to make do with the birds called habbar, and certainly the huge off-white iguanas they call dubb that sun themselves when it is cool enough. And dive down holes in the sand when you approach.

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