"VALE OF PEACE"
in the valley of peace
a million stones and graves,
amongst flies and dogs and fleas
scouring as death’s slaves.
I walk, and walk and walk
Avenue of Death’s holiness.
holy and silent
under a Najaf setting sun,
slowly but violent,
the light torched out the fun.
endless days of desert
now lit dimly, fadedly.
no light, no shadow, no relief;
the dunes of wasteland hated me.
the sand sang slowly, creepily,
and camels ventured the night
through the violent, southern gales;
the storm recalled instantly
and yawned with grace and might
through all the rifts and vales.
the caravans
were surely sullen
in gravest
dire awe,
for it is prince
that they bury tonight.
the nomad
council ordered
in respect of death’s dark maw,
thus, to
shut the light.
the prince of the mountains,
the spirit of rock and ore,
the springs and the fountains,
heir to days of yore!
forevermore and here-after
come the deafening of laughter;
the suffocation of smiles and hugs;
come the cold and slime of slugs!
as the prince of the cedar woods
to the south of Dimašq and north of al-Quds,
and of the
forest-realm to the west
is forever
laid to rest.
* * *
Wadi-us-Salaam (وادي السلام) is a massive cemetery located in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq,
and is the world’s largest. Burials are reported to have been a daily
occurrence for the past 1 400 years, and in certain periods as many as
approximately 250 corpses have been buried each day. The cemetery is estimated
to contain way over 5 million corpses. Wadi-us-Salaam is Arabic for “Valley of
Peace”.
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