As I made my way down Palestine Street
I watched a funeral
pass –
all the women waving lilac stems
around a coffin made of glass
and the face of the man who lay within
who had breathed
a poison gas.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I heard the call to prayer
and I stopped at the door of the golden mosque
to watch the faithful there
but there was blood on the walls and the muezzin’s eyes
were wild with his despair.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I met two blind beggars
And into their hands I pressed
my hands
with a
hundred black dinars;
and their salutes were those of the Imperial
Guard in the Mother of all Wars.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I smelled the wide Tigris,
the river smell that lifts the air
in a city such as this;
but down on my head fell the barbarian
sun
that knows no armistice.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I saw a Cruise missile,
a slow and silver caravan
on its slow and silver mile,
and a beggar child turned up his face
and blessed it with a smile.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
under the yellow palms
I saw their branches hung with yellow dates
all sweeter than salaams,
and when that same child reached
up to touch,
the fruit fell in
his arms.
ROBERT MINHINNICK
•Palestine Street a major street in Baghdad, also known as Falastin Street.
ReplyDelete•Poison gas a term to describe chemical weapons such as mustard gas and chlorine gas. Poison gas was used by Iraq against Iran during the IranIraq War and also (allegedly) against its own Kurdish minority. The UN supervised the destruction of a quantity of chemical weapons in Iraq after the first Gulf War.
•Muezzin the person who calls the faithful to prayer at mosque.
•Imperial Guard the unit of volunteers who originally served as Iraqi President Saddam Husseins personal bodyguard.
•Mother of all Wars President Saddam Husseins description of the first Gulf War.
•Tigris river flowing through Baghdad.
•Cruise missile a guided missile that can carry conventional, chemical, biological or nuclear warheads. Cruise missiles were used by both sides during the first Gulf War.
•Yellow palm a type of date-producing palm tree that is frequently mentioned in the Quran. The trees leaves, bark and fruit are used for a variety of purposes including timber, rope, food and fuel.
•Salaam an Arabic greeting (meaning peace) which is used throughout the world, mainly by Muslims. In the Middle East, it is accompanied by two or three light cheek kisses, usually between people of the same gender. It is a shortening of As Salaam Alaykum (peace be upon you).
Cultural and historical references in the poem (via AQA website)
ReplyDeletePalestine Street a major street in Baghdad (although not the street that Minhinnick identifies as the inspiration for his poem), also known as Falastin Street.
Poison gas a term to describe chemical weapons such as mustard gas and chlorine gas. Poison gas was used by Iraq against Iran during the IranIraq War and also (allegedly) against its own Kurdish minority. The UN supervised the destruction of a quantity of chemical weapons in Iraq after the first Gulf War.
Muezzin the person who calls the faithful to prayer at mosque.
Imperial Guard the unit of volunteers (largely) who originally served as Iraqi President Saddam Husseins personal bodyguard. The units remit broadened into a wider military one.
Mother of all Wars (or Mother of all Battles) President Saddam Husseins description of the first Gulf War.
Tigris river flowing through Baghdad.
Cruise missile a guided missile that can carry conventional, chemical, biological or nuclear warheads. Cruise missiles were used by both sides during the first Gulf War.
Yellow palm a type of date-producing palm tree that is frequently mentioned in the Quran. The trees leaves, bark and fruit are used for a variety of purposes including timber, rope, food and fuel.
Salaam an Arabic greeting (meaning peace) which is used throughout the world, mainly by Muslims. In the Middle East, it is accompanied by two or three light cheek kisses, usually between people of the same gender. It is a shortening of As Salaam Alaykum (peace be upon you).
ps
All else I know is that Lilac is a purple color,and a flower with hollow stems.
I have not found the local symbolism for waving lilac stems but I do know they are native in Iraq.