Flocks

FLOCKS

They fly everywhere
Like a succession of musical notes
Octaves, minors, majors and melody
From the top of searing minarets
Emaciated with purity, tall with austerity
Like a gliding cannon shot
When the muezzin calls for prayer
Flocks of pigeons in flight
Flying with the wailing ney of Sadreddin
Flying from the warnings of the blazing fire
Flying to the different minarets of the world
Flying on quarternotes of melody
Flying by clouds of conjecture
Storms of certainty
Draughts of opinion

Starlight on emeralds
Sunlight on aquamarine
Daylight on marble
Moonlight on silk

They fly with the prophet
Nightbound to Jerusalem
Sharing his revelation
In his cloak
Shuddering ominously
Shaking off the terror
Of the thudding blocks of cool marble
Containing the slabs of scripture
The bashing of brains
The dulling of imagination

Delhi, Baghdad, Istanbul, Mecca
Tabriz, Bokhara, Alexandria, Marrakesh
They fly everywhere from every religion to every freedom in every land
Flying from minarets when the muezzin calls for prayer.