We’ve come back in one piece from love’s Afghanistan tonight.
Let’s not try Andalus, but make what peace we can tonight.
Though desert guides cry out “pack up your things now and move on!”
We have an inn. Why should we join the caravan tonight?
A poet warned of dark nights of the soul like waves of storm.
Weather the storm with me. Don’t trust the weatherman tonight.
Again like you the Westward lightning bursts beyond the window.
The dawn wind will refresh the life that we began tonight.
Manhattan stands knee-deep in dark that flooded Roanoke
And shades of Alexander steal on Isfahan tonight.
Ground Zero is a wheel rut in the ruined rock of Crete.
Now, let us head toward a different Iran tonight.
Let Hafiz help us. Nations war in godly unbelief.
Love writes us a new Bible and a new Qur’an tonight.
You have taught me to love again, and I will love as much
As anybody on this broken planet can tonight.
The grass kneels in the rain and I to you: Forget our names.
The flawless bed is calling with a sixth ázán tonight.
Let’s not try Andalus, but make what peace we can tonight.
Though desert guides cry out “pack up your things now and move on!”
We have an inn. Why should we join the caravan tonight?
A poet warned of dark nights of the soul like waves of storm.
Weather the storm with me. Don’t trust the weatherman tonight.
Again like you the Westward lightning bursts beyond the window.
The dawn wind will refresh the life that we began tonight.
Manhattan stands knee-deep in dark that flooded Roanoke
And shades of Alexander steal on Isfahan tonight.
Ground Zero is a wheel rut in the ruined rock of Crete.
Now, let us head toward a different Iran tonight.
Let Hafiz help us. Nations war in godly unbelief.
Love writes us a new Bible and a new Qur’an tonight.
You have taught me to love again, and I will love as much
As anybody on this broken planet can tonight.
The grass kneels in the rain and I to you: Forget our names.
The flawless bed is calling with a sixth ázán tonight.
by A.Z. Foreman
A. Z. Foreman is a linguist, poet and/or translator pursuing a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages at the Ohio State University. His work is featured/forthcoming in the Threepenny Review, Los Angeles Review and ANMLY, but not yet the Starfleet Academy Quarterly. He wants to pet your dog.
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