We have landed they tell us

in the centre for all Morocco

of magic & the old ways

high in the Atlas mountains….
We have heard this.
What we have not heard or seen

happens for the first time

today via the one TV in the one cafe:
Apollo astronauts land on the moon

& high-step in slow motion, gawky

in grey scale.
“Ha!” says Omar. “What a stunt.

Those Americans are so clever.
But we know. Moroccans

are not easily tricked. This

is a fiction to entertain the people.
Quelle blague.” He pretends to toss

a rock off the dusty floor at the screen.
The crowd in the cafe laugh

at the outlandish gear, the preposterous

instrument & helmet gimmicks

clumsier than any cartoon.
Still scoffing, the moon men jostle outside

& hidden in hooded dun djellabas

melt into the lunar dusk of their grey plateau.