FEZ - Medina and the dark senses.

An impression of the ancient Medina, in Fes, (or 'Fez') in Morocco. The commentary is a kind of prose-poem. What you see here is what it was and what it is. The Medina has been around for a thousand years and is now very much a kind of living museum resisting change more ardently and successfully than most cities we know. The fact that it is now a UNESCO Heritage site will help it stay that way.

It is impossible not to be fascinated by the incessant activity in the labyrinth of narrow streets, by the changing light and the vibrant colours but more than that it can fling open channels to the dark senses.

The competing odours, perfumes and aromas challenge (to its very foundation) our brain-washed fixation with the seen. The smells here alone open to a perception of a world more vibrant, sensual and astonishing than we could ever imagine.

Strange that the human organ of smell is no larger than a postage stamp. It is located where you would expect in nasal channels deep within the skull. With its tiny 'cillia'; the sensitive 'upside-down' periscopes that hang from the membrane there, we humans are able to identify 1000 different smells. but the combinations are legion.
Mounds of nutmeg and dill seem
to wrestle the sheaves of aromatic coriander;
walnuts, dried figs and fennel tremble
at garlic fumes from the invisible,
promise-filled kitchens, but the scent
of fresh, bright oranges conquers
the steaming heaps of donkey dung.
Figs, prunes and honeyed lemons
shudder at the creeping stink
from the tanneries only to be liberated
by a fragrant mountain of cut mint.

There are a thousand and one smells here
in forty-thousand combinations.
Savour the sawdust from the turners;
inhale the perfume from the piles of olives
for soon the distinctive reek of live poultry
will signal banks of cramped, tight cages
reveal chickens who must blink and stare
at the bustling throng of wingless beings
pulsing through the cobbled, busy streets,
adding to the multitude of sensations in
the baffling labyrinth which is the Fes Medina.

It must be the relative stillness of the air
that traps each unsteady blend so that
any blind soul, one his dark sense alone,
will fix his location with a breath.
And that is never far from a Mosque:
(with hamman attached and stench from
its drains), and yet another rug and bag
Emporium emitting spectrums of warm
wool-richness and soft, new-worked leather.
But the engravers, with their acrid, offensive
chemicals; the smiths and craftsmen
twisting, hammering can all hear the groan
off saliva-inducing kitchens; feel
the heat,the tension -for this is Ramadan.
Torment inducing wreathes of smoke
swirl up and straddle shafts of sun.
They mock from there, like B-movies
projected in run-down open-air cinemas.
There's no relief for the stomach here.
The burning carcasses of goat and lamb,
the cous-cous; the sesame, the baking bread,
the cakes have rendered ancient Fes el Bali

a city of eternal discomfort - until sundown.
The people in the mazy thoroughfares
are taut as a dulcimer's strings: as edgy
as sappers: or as hired assassins.
The artisans, the cooks, the vendors,
the passers-by, the hordes of infants
(invariably in non-comprehending,
waterless tears ) are fasting. Only
the occasional whey-faced Holy Man
passes, at peace with an empty stomach.
But this is all food for the 'Disreputables':

the terrible urchins of the street
whose greatest talent is for havoc.
(Hunger anyway for them a common
enough sensation). They jeer, taunt
and scrap; infuriate the traders,
tease the shoppers, evade
their blows and when they regard
each other's faces, collapse to their knees,
tand roll about the stones, howling
with their unique variety
of infectious, hysterical laughter.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Fez
• World Heritage
• Ancient labyrinth
• Dark senses
• Ramadan
• Moroccan leather
• Fes el Bali
• Street Urchins
• coriander
• the tannery
• fennel
• The Disreputables.

[keanghiero]

Nicely painted, dear Fred.

happy weekend

All the best

Kean

[Caspar33]

@keanghiero Thanks K. And you too - what's left of it!

[Idlinfarm]

Takes me back to our life in Amman and then Ankara. Great video. I love that music.

[Caspar33]

@Idlinfarm Was in Ankara only a few hours mainly at the Atatürk memorial (courtesy of the tour organisers) and never in Jordan. Must have been vivid and rich experiences. Thanks.

[Poemsapennyeach]

Another world for sure...amazing....great video Casper !

[Caspar33]

@Poemsapennyeach Thanks for comment K. Great place for any cookie! (Not the internet variety)

[keanghiero]

@Caspar33 - Your poem was more than niceky painted, I smelled good, cuscus...

Here it is raining, Fred.

...Looks like London.

All the best

Kean

[Caspar33]

@andrewnorris2 Thanks Andrew. An unforgettable experience for sure.

[andrewnorris2]

What a colourful place and what an assault on the senses. Long may it continue.

[Caspar33]

@Caspar33 I didn't mean to suggest that everyone behaves badly during Ramadan - perish the thought. Just that there is a criminal element sadly wherever one might turn up. I'm sure Fes is an exception. BTW here is a beautiful short and informative video on the Medina there from 'skiock' called getting lost in the medina.