"Lovers of the Lakes of Tears" & other poems from The Berber Trail

tomasocarthaigh

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Imilchil Betrothal Festival – Morrocco
The Imilchil wedding festival is an annual gathering of the Berber peoples so betrothals can take place. Unlike other Islamic societies, Berbers still practice marriages by the heart, where lovers choose each other, as opposed to being chosen for each other by families.
A local legend tells of two lakes being formed, Isli (his) and Tislit (hers), from the tears of two lovers denied by their warring tribes the right to marry. The lovers both drowned in the lakes formed by their tears, and in regret the peoples decreed never again would families stand in the way of a marriage of the heart.



Two lakes of tears of a love forbidden
Desire denied due to tribal ties
In death they shared what was denied in life
As each lover heartbroken in water dies

Of the lakes formed from their tears
Heartbroken, their marriage now allowed
Their tribes fierce foes would not permit it
And to back down, they were too proud.

On the deaths of the lovers two
Great was the grief in the camp of each tribe
Who learned love conquers all barriers
As written through time by many a scribe

So from that day, in Imilchil
The tribes they met thoughout the years
So that the young can marry according to their heart
As was denied to the Lovers of the Lakes of Tears