The
Desire for Distant Things
The
point here is not to describe
what
did or did not take place in Morocco.
What
occurred in the Atlas highlands a century ago
retains
the rawness of incident
bleached
of diplomacy.
The
sheikh killed in the insurgence, the captain
retired
to France with his souvenirs, and the trader
returning
rich to Palestine, all had their parts to play,
as
did the sheep’s throat, cut
to
placate the hill tribe elders; the informant’s remarks
weighed
against the mechanics of torture;
his
feckless wife,
her
lover,
and
the progressive form of the verb
indicating
arrival.
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