Once again as the mists clear on Créteil Lake that dismal morn, we witness the Commandant's agony in failing to serve the Writ for Ol' Khayyam's arrest while the Imam goes back to his duties indoors...

The Ruba’iyat of Créteil Lake – Part Twenty-Nine

“Sire!” cried a lame yea-sayer: “I know this mad hookah addict!”
“Then drag him here by the scruff of neck be it hook or by trick!
But first when thou seest him Jap-slap him before and after!”
The unfortunate crony jerked crab-wise for fifteen slabs of brick:

And came toppling back: “Your Holiness! What Jap-slap really mean?”
“Slap him when you first see him and then slap him after seeing him!”
“Oh! How might that be, Sire? Right at this hour Abdul dreams deep!”
“Well, pluck him from Widow Zaynub’s lap! Shake down his heroin!”

And even as blood thawed in dragonfly under water veins
The dribbling pitter-pattering rains unclogged the stubborn drains
Hidden stifling demons shook ominous wings to draw the veils
The shroud of mists lifted over the assembled hosts’ terrains

To reveal the pent-up currents of mystifying self-hood:
The Commandant strove to confront the prelate in the right mood
The Imam caught up over and above sacrament duties
While Robo-Cops and the Faithful hung fraught by their livelihood

Regional Council convened in the Mairie spindle tower
Chief of Staff rounded up forces’ heads at the Prefect’s bower
The Writ-Server constrained sang: “I must this behest unload…”
“STOP!” cried the Imam, “I must this very hour conduct asr!”

© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014