there’s a belief in the land of my roots
a belief in the power of the malevolent gaze
called the nazar
in the language of the pen i use,
it is called the evil eye
the nazar is the power of misfortune brought upon oneself
by the hateful gazes of demons and demons who claim to be human
we drape ourselves with the symbol of the eye bearing ocean colors,
staring back in defiance of evil, protecting ourselves,
protecting ourselves from the demons of the world
who would wish us harm
those envious neighbors
and persistent bullies, those traitorous co-conspirators, and false friends
for this, we are called superstitious, and maybe it is true
centuries of misfortune have made us rife with paranoia
however, i think not, for it was once said by a relatively important man or woman
that eyes are windows to the soul:
that eternal power,
the mind of God, given flesh and muscle in the heart
imprisoned in the chest of man
it is believed that the eyes allow one to see the essence of a man
it would be reasonable to say the essence of a man
emanates from the eyes
i wonder, do we poison the soul of the heart
when we blacken our eyes with our baleful gazes
and hating stares
do we butcher our fellow man, when we look at them
with disgust and jealousy
i wonder, is this why we, the humans and demons of the world,
is this why we weep
are our souls bleeding
is this why the eye is the mightiest of blades
is this why there is nothing as painful
as seeing the gaze of the demons we fear
the demons we despise
in the blood of our veins
in the water of the covenant
in the reflective glass on the wall
perhaps it is superstition to believe
we can protect ourselves from the evil eye
with amulets and earrings and paintings
we may protect our souls
from the poison of demons with our trinkets
but what of the poison of the heart?
