IN ANOTHER PLACE by Alison Darnbrough

Ever since I was a child I have been drawn to certain places around the world…

I feel they call me in my dreams. I have discovered that following these ‘callings’ has taken me on the most magical journeys. Many of these have literally changed the course of my life.

Morocco, and particularly Marrakech, was one of these places, the name alone conjuring up an exoticness and otherworldliness that thrilled and excited me.

In February 2012 I called my friend, Belinda (a storyteller) who had a significant birthday coming up and asked if she wanted to go to Marrakesh with me. She immediately said yes. In May we flew from a cool grey Manchester in England to the sultry fiery-red heat of North Africa. It was all I had hoped and believed it would be.

After four days in the city however, Belinda and I were finding the pace and noise a little overwhelming. We craved a different, more peaceful rhythm to calm our excited hearts and minds.

So, one evening we travelled out into the desert to watch the sun set and eat at a beautiful retreat called La Pausa. La Pausa brought that peace.

I had been experimenting with writing poetry again for a couple of years (after a gap of maybe 15) but had written no poetry on the trip. This poem ‘came to me’ up in the desert that evening. It seemed that the words drifted to me on that warm evening breeze as things slowed down. That had never happened to me before.

Whenever I read it now I am transported back to that evening and can recapture that sense of peace I found in the desert.

In Another Place

In another place

my mind and thoughts slow to a different pace

the desert space

amidst the stars and black night sky

and burning wood on warm night breeze

enveloped by olive trees.

Alison Darnbrough is an English writer, Art Curator, Educational Consultant and Traveller. She is currently living in Chicago (USA) writing a book. You may connect with her on her International Arts website here, or by emailing alisond.adia@gmail.com

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

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