Ka'bah

1000 years
before Da Vinci danced
with angels and demons

bedouins recited poetry
respite from tribal war
tossed swords to water
                                       wind
                                                  fire
                                                           night
to Mecca
a child born

mother
               father
                          spirits
                                       flew
O' Khadijah,
brilliant and bold
beside Al-Amin
an angel paying dues
by firelight and sand

breathing life
into thought of one G-D

not
       stature
                    incense
but
        one
                 people

solidarity

O' poor now protected
one hand of Muhammad held
his other clutching onyx of Abraham

Qu'ran
rising deep within his throat

cosmic
             intimate
                            force

The Tree of Life
turning full term

a mystery redefined
through mouths of poets
shifting image
to beauty

Father of Reincarnation
the people did not believe

You, a threat to fabric tightly woven
assassins at your side

no retribution

until the battles began . . .



© Susan Marie