A POEM DEDICATED TO THE
S U N
WHICH I STARE'D DIRECTLY INTO
WHILE IMPROVISE'ING THE
ORIGINAL POEM
& TO IRAQ'I POET ABDUL AL-RAZZAK ABDUL AL-WAHID
WHO OUT OV THE INNOCENCE OV HIS HEART
INVITE'D MY INNOCENT
HEART UNTO
HIS BELOVED
IRAQ...
ONCE
DUR'ING THE
IRAN-IRAQ WAR IN
BASRAH IRAQ IN FRONT OV THE
CONFLUENCE OV THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
RIVERS THE SHATT-AO-ARAB ONE OV THE CRADLES OV
ALL CIVILIZATIONS
IN BRIGHT SUN'D AFTERNOON IN FRONT OV THE
STATUE OV THEIR MOST-BELOVE'D POET
BADR SHAKIR AL-SAYYAB AFTER I HAD PHOTOGRAPHED THE
FIERCE MAURITANIAN POET READ'ING FROM HIS PERCH AT THE
BASE OV THE STATUE
AN ARABIC MAN WHO KNEW ME MY POETRY SEEM'HOW PERHAPS
PROBABLY AN IRAQ'I SAID
"MR. MAX DO YOU
WISH TO DO
A POEM"
&
I SAID
"ME!
THAT'S AL-SAYYAB
THAT'S THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES
RIVERS &
IT WOULD BE IN ENGLISH!"
HE ACTED LIKE I HAD NOT EVEN SPOKEN
AS IF HE WERE DEAF TO ALL MY WORDS EXCEPT
THE HEART
AND HEART'LAND OV WHERE POETRY ITSELF
IS BIRTH'D
THE BOIL'ING BLOOD OV THE TRUTH
THAT LIFE SPEAKS INTO YOU LIKE A
BLOW-TORCH
AND HE SAID
EMPHATICALLY
"MR. MAX DO YOU WISH
TO DO A POEM!"
&
I
HAD NO CHOICE
BECAUSE OF THE PURE'ITY
OF HIS OFFER'ING
FROM THE VOLCANO OV HIS PURE HEART
I SAID "YES" &
INSTANTLY HE CUP'D HIS HANDS AND I
PUT MY LEFT BOOT INTO THEM & HE BOOSTED ME
ONTO THE BASE OV THE STATUE OF WONDEROUS POET OV
HEART THE NAKED BEING OV BADR SHAKIR AL-SAYYAB
I
STARE'D DIRECTLY
INTO THE AFTERNOON SUN JUST LIKE
THIS AFTERNOON SUN WHERE I SIT ON A BENEFICENT
TREE-STUMP IN MY BACK-YARD WITH THE HIGH-HOLY SUN KISS'ING
MY SOUL
I STARE'D DIRECTLY INTO
THAT AFTERNOON-SUN & BEGAN IMPROVISE'ING A POEM OV SOUL
ABOUT WAR.PEACE.TOUCH.FAITH.DEATH.LIFE.BIRTH.IT HAD TO HONOR
ALL SOURCES
AND BECAUSE THE POET WHO HAPPENED TO BE ME
IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU
KNEW
THAT 95% TO 99% OF THE HUMAN BEINGS IN FRONT OV HIM
WOULD NOT COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HIS ENGLISH WORDS
HIS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
YOU STARE INTO THE SUN DIRECTLY
T H I S
THEY CAN UNDERSTAND
THIS IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OV
P O E T R Y
THE HUMAN SOUL
NAKED TO THE LIGHT
AND YOU SAY FROM THE FUME'ING SPIRIT OV YOU
THE SONG OV INNOCENCE OV HUMANITY TO
GET THEM THRU THE HORRORS OV
THEIR WAR ONE MILLION DEAD
BEFORE IT ENDS
YOU SPIN THE
FOUNTAIN OV LIFE FROM THE
DEEP MOUNTAIN OV THE UNIVERSE'IALITY OV OUR
HUMAN-BLOOD
YOU FEEL THE RIVER'S BEHIND YOU PULSE'ING YOUR BLOOD
SHEPHERD'ING YOUR
H E A R T
YOU FEEL THE GREAT POET ABOVE YOU KISSING YOUR SOUL
YOU FEEL THE BEAUTIFULL RAYS OV THE SUN MARRY'ING YOUR E Y E S
YOU LET THE VOLCANO OV YOUR
TRUST
ERUPT INTO THE MUSIC OV LIFE
ITS BIRTH-SONG
AND YOU DO IT WITH ALL THE
HEART AND TRUST GIVEN YOU
AND WHEN THE SPELL THE SYMPHONY OV
LIFE'S LIVE'ING SPEAR
E N D ' S
WHEN YOUR WORD'S COMPLETE THEIR SONATA COME'ING
HOME
TO
P E A C E
&
B I R T H
WHEN FINALLY THE RIVERS ARE
CALM & THE APPLAUSE ERUPTS
YOU DON'T FEEL THEM
YOU "HEAR" THE CACOPHONY OV HANDS CLAP'ING
BUT YOU KNOW
ALL ALONG IT WAS THE SUN THE RIVER'S THE POET SPEAK'ING THRU
YOU
LIKE A CHILD'S EYE
& WHEN THE LEBANESE WOMAN WEEP'ING
FROM YOUR POEM WHO UNDERSTOOD YOUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE
EMBRACE'S YOU
HER SALT-TEAR'S KISSING YOUR SOUL
BECAUSE SHE MUST RETURN TO
WAR RAVAGE'D BERUIT A COUNTRY IN FLAMES
OV INFAMY
YOU HUG HER KNOW'ING
WHY
YOU BROKE HER HEART
WIDE-OPEN
TAKE'ING FULL RESPON'SIBILITY FOR YOUR WORDS
YOU BE'SEECH THE IRAQ'I OFFICIALS FOR
THE RIGHT
TO ACCOMPANY ALL THE LEBANESE POET'S
TO THE
AIRPORT THE NEXT DAY
BECAUSE
YOU OWE THEM THIS RESPECT
AND WE HERE WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCE'D OUR COUNTRY
BOMB'D
TORN APART IN WAR
TRUNCATE'D & OBLITERATE'D COMPLETELY INTO
THE ARM'S OV D E A T H
WE MUST KNOW THAT OUR HEARTS ARE AT
ONE WITH THOSE ANGELS WHO ARE
S L A U G H T E R ' D
SO AT THE AIRPORT YOU HUG & KISS
EVERY LEBANESE POET DEPART'ING ON THAT
SILVER-BIRD
AND AS YOU RIDE HOME ALONE
IN THE CAR FROM THE AIRPORT THE
BELL'S OV INFAMY & PEACE RING TOGETHER
INSIDE YOUR SOUL
IN THE CRYSTAL SILENCE OV
T R U T H
THIS
IS ONE OV THE PLACES THAT POETRY IS BORN
ONE
OV THE MOMENTS WHEN TO BE POET IS THE
U N I V E R S E
IS THE HEAL'ING FORCE OV THE CRYSTAL-LIGHT
IS THE MARRIAGE THE MATE OV THE
HIGH-HOLY-SUN-S P E A K I N G
AND *
B R E A T H E ' I N G * *
TOGETHER IN THE * *
BLOOD'SPEAK OV * *
P E A C E *
POEM BY GRAND'FATHER
POET/PHOTOGRAPHER MAX SCHWARTZ
ORIGINAL POEM IMPROVISED, I BELIEVE, NOVEMBER 1987,
BASRAH, IRAQ. THIS POEM WRITTEN.MONDAY.DECEMBER.1998.
SUN.SAGITTARIUS.MOON.LION.E A R T H...
copyright max schwartz