Gary,
There was a lot in this poem that interests me. I too have thought how
ironic it is that the cradle of civilisation is the scene of the current
conflict. BTW I don't know who all the people are in the first stanza (apart
from Alexander the Great or Alexander the Curse as he is known in Islamic
parts). The last stanza brings it all together nicely with a powerful irony.
Colin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Blankenship" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:17 PM
Subject: Lessons
(as the dawg does so often ** blocks out italics)
Lessons
*the call
from ghostly ziggurats
"war, war, war"
Alexander
and Hulagu smile*
We are taught the first came from there,
civilization and kings,
writing, records and the law,
bread, flocks and the wine of life.
We are taught Abraham came from there,
that the two rivers flow from Eden.
We suspect Cain fled to there,
to Nod and Enoch, the city of his son.
*the babble
of rotting corpses
'revenge"
Armenian, kulak,
the sons and daughters of Joseph cry*
We are told the last battle will be
fought on the plains of Megiddo.
Today, I hear it on my radio
from the swamps of Shatt al-'Arab.
*sandstorms
muffle the call to prayer
smother the cradle
with the smell of almonds
and hammer of ploughshares
pounded into swords*
IF MY MAIL BOUNCES, MAIL [log in to unmask] AS AN ALTERNATIVE.....March
Margaret Hodge and Gary poems for kids at:
http://gardawg.homestead.com/gardawg.html --- Writer's Hood at
http://www.writershood.com/..... Poets for Peace.... ˇPoemas sí, balas no!
|
