Baghdad blue pearl in
the sandy ocean
desert princess
your beggars walk in
the footsteps of Hammurabi
your craftsmen are all artists
your lovers dreamers
dancing beneath the moon
When I hear your music
the dervishes drink your honey
you see them enraptured
by your vastness
Your loneliness today
is a distant cry

As the full moon blooms
above your skyline of minarets
as the shopkeeper
stares at his empty shelves
as your children screech
to the tune of incoming 'Tomahawks'
I see you reverberate -
the sand 
swinging with the shock waves
of distant drumming

The merciless enemy is pounding you
ancient city
he is ready to smash
your fivethousandfold memory -
year by year
month by month
He is ready
to wipe out 
your trace
your breath

But you will breathe again
lovely city
free of the Bushs and Husseins of this world
your citizens will go upright
in peace
enjoying the comfort
and solidarity
of all mankind
 

3/20/03 
 

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