Mecca, Indiana, Saturday, August 26, 2006 (Gregorian)

Vagabond dervishes travel the damn straight path (Highway 36) from Springfield, Illistan, to Mecca, Indianastan.

Despite the rain and a faulty windshield wiper, my friend Noor & I made it, dj (A)stray's dervish dub blaring from the dented green minivan.

The morning of the pilgrimage I woke up at almost 4:30 in the morning. Maybe I went back to sleep but if I did I woke up again soon. I put on some coffee and poured some coffee and drank some coffee. (Coffee is qahve is wine is sacrament, in our twisted view.)

On the way to the MaDHouse to get Noor I drank some more qahve. At Noor's house we had some qahve. On the way out of town we stopped at a gas station for Mountain Dew and qahve. I guess Mountain Dew is valley mist is the dao. But really it's a gross commodity. At 23 minutes after eight we got on our way to Mecca. After a while we stopped at a rest area for Mountain Dew and qahve. And drove and stopped for Mountain Dew and qahve. We drove and drank and missed the back road (no sign for Mecca) and looked at the map and drank and drove, and there we were, right on time at high noon.

We parked between the little red schoolhouse and the covered bridge, and explored between rainshowers. The bridge provided nice shelter and at some point we may have entered a TAZ. We don the fezzes and say a Bismillah before we have some more qahve. I think I said a Bismallahat for good measure.

Graffiti all over the inside of the covered bridge (besides the ads). So-&so heart so&so; I hate so&-so; the inevitable 4:20. I think Khadir was here. Appreciating abundance, I munch some wild pigweed (more nutritious than garden greens). Noor hands me a tiny river pebble with a bit of numinous od baraka. I lost my green pen somewhere under the bridge.

We hung around in front of the Mecca Tavern, which had loud music blaring and definitely looked more like an alcoholic establishment rather than a place to get lunch. We ate PB&J at the picnic bench. Dumpstered artisan bread; homemade jam. A friendly hound dog followed us around.

MECCA AUTO SALVAGE where muslim cars go to await That Day.

Mecca with rundown trailers.

Mecca where parked vehicles have thick wild plants overgrowing them.

Mecca Tavern: "Owners-our customers"

An old ad inside the covered bridge says "TRY A SODA AT THE PEOPLE'S RESTAURANT"

Mecca where the grocery, florist, and post office all inhabit one tiny store.

Mecca where the locals all wave as they drive by.

Mecca with cemeteries outside town: one named Arabia, the other with Arabic writing on a few tombstones.

Mecca on the map, not far from Shirkieville.

Donning the fezzes, we convened the Edge Islam Society of Northwest Amexem, read portions of the History and Catechism of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America, and read poetry. We discussed the Tribe of Ishmael, the nomadic Islamic dropout founders of Mecca.

Three hours of aimless wandering. A small town that may have forgotten its magic.

A poem about fezzes left on the picnic table between the old schoolhouse and the covered bridge. (See below.) A local with a rake comes up and picks it up as we drive off.

Noor took pictures of the tavern, and I don't know when they will be developed. It turned out the people who were going to meet us there had car trouble and got there a half hour after we left. Ahari El took pictures of the Arabic tombstones.

And on the way home we stopped for Mountain Dew and qahve, and qahve and Mountain Dew…

the poem about fezzes:

The Fez is The Official Headgear of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America

Dusty fez

Ill-fitting fez

Cracked fez

Stained fez

Perfectly preserved fez

Fez with a feather

Fez with a flower

Forgotten fez

I sneezed my fez off

Mosquito bite on my forehead fez

The fez with the chocolate hidden under it

Cobwebby fez

Duct taped fez

Patched fez

Falling-all-apart fez

Blown to smithereens fez

Hakim Bey's very own fez

And what the hell happened to

The Prophet Noble Drew Ali's

Cherokee-feathered

Masonic Oriental African Magic

Fez?

Is it in the imaginal realm?

Is Khadir trying it on today?

How about another glass of wine fez.

(And we mustn't forget the mushroom-red fez)

coming soon: tasty tidbits from the catechism of the Moorish Orthodox Church; a YouTube video on a free school (which is like unschooling in a school building).