1998 was the year I kept the promise I had made myself in 1972: to return to the Sahara. I trekked the Tènere desert with two Tuareg guides. The people of the Äire who lived there were poor and proud, they were lovely people. They made jewelry from silver or tin that they find in the desert and necklaces from leather hides. Their traditional Talisman is the Agedez Cross which stems from a mixture of both christianity and moslem beliefs. There are neither christians nor moslem people there, just the Äir folk, who believe in this mixture.
The baby can only ever dream of seeing flowers in a meadow. Yet how can she dream if she never sees them? I think she can.
Talisman
A tiny teardrop wells up in her eye,
catching a ray of sun,
which pierces the oval prism of emotion.
The power of light begins to refract,
into a myriad of hue,
and the world kindles around her…
Red warns of changes to come,
enigmatic and emphatic.
Orange flames lick the sky’s promising dawn,
sprinkling warm light onto a narcissi spring,
that contrasts the lush, ocean of grass,
inspiring optimism and tender dreams.
Azure heavens deepen the spirit of day –
the rich indigo, jewel spanned night, long gone.
A morning scent wafts aloft in the air
from violets down at the stream…
It is no tear of pain, but of love, and of joy.
For this spring morning is not observed from her room.
Instead she feels it, and has known it, from her mother’s womb.
Copyright © 01.06.1998 – Kevin Mahoney
These people are nomads. The photo on the left shows, on the left, just a part of their living accommodation, which is made of goatskins or cow hide and propped up by branches or wooden poles from the market. The men are travelling through the desert hunting for food, they may be away for days. The photo on the right should have been a video because the formal greeting takes at least five minutes during which the hands are held and polite questions are asked and statements made. How is your family? Is your husband well? We hope that he has success on his hunt.