Madinat al-Yasmin (for Damascus)

A Repost

Oh, Madinat al-Yasmin!

You of the Street called Straight

‘twas on the road to thee

that Paul saw  the Christ

 

Abbasids and Fatimids

Seljuks and Mamluks

Timur and the Black Death

Gone and still you live.

 

No one remembers

the angels of the Sumerians

of  Hyksos. of Umayyad;

Only the gutted market place

 

the innocent scream of survivors,

for those killed at checkpoints,

Saladin’s children, now a montage

of arms and limbs

.

no pity for yesterday’s beauty;

just brush away the dead flies

from coffins coming home;

collateral damage.

 

The twisted tree in the desert

is not alone nor desolate

for it has deep roots

drawing it’s life blood

from the sands of Damascus.

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photo is public domain

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&sz=all&va=tree+desert+public+domain

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