Twilight of Forever

An aged breeze touched wisps of her hair
and she closed her eyes awaiting its embrace....

Is it you, she thought,
as it entwined itself in the crevice of her neck,
leaving a calling card,
from the finger tips of clouds....

Then she felt it, the memory of the night,
cradling her as a young babe,
loving her as the mother of song....

Ai Mouria,
through rooftops you have traveled endless days
wrapped in the current that now flows free...

She embraced its spell
with a bitter sweet kiss,
embellishing a fancy thought,
that it loved her too....

And in an instant all was still,
the smell of fishes and the sea,
the taste of salt upon her lips, gone,
leaving her yearning....

So she waits,
in the twilight of forever.
where now and again,
there is a chance of hope,
that she will return home,
that, she will,
ever be loved.....

© Dixie Dawn Michelle. All rights reserved, August 28 2013


Author Notes
Mouraria is one of Lisbon’s most traditional and historic “bairros” or neighbourhoods. It owes its name to the fact that Dom Afonso Henriques (Afonso I of Portugal), after capturing Lisbon during the Christian Reconquest, decided that the moors should stay in one part of the city, in the same way that the Jews were confined to the areas around the Castle.

Within the district’s confines, the Christianised moors helped to initiate the first elements of Portuguese mudéjar art, which in turn served as certain inspiration for the later Manueline architectural style.

Mouraria is the “Berço do Fado”, or the birthplace of Fado. The first recognised Fado singer, Maria Severa Onofriana or simply “A Severa”, was a tall and gracious prostitute with aristocratic lovers who used to sing in a tavern in Rua do Capelão and in 1846 died from tubercolosis

The main square in this district is known as the Praça de Martim Moniz, named after a knight who supposedly fought under the command of Dom Alfonso Henriques mentioned above. According to legend, during the Seige of Lisbon and the battle for the Castle of São Jorge, then under control of the moors, Martim Moniz saw that one of the doors was slightly ajar. He then single-handedly attacked the door, and wedged himself in so that it couldn’t be closed, being killed in the process. This courageous act, however, permitted his fellow knights access to the castle, and thus victory was assured. The doorway is now named Porta de Martim Moniz in his honour.