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Global Urban Trek 2008
Poem for MokkatamJuly 26, 2008
"Broken" (for the miracle of the moving mountain)
As far as I know
And as far as I see
The scarlet's snow
And the master's ready to set the captives free
Way down
On the bottom of the all this broken, rocky, heap
Hear the sound—
Deep calls to deep, and rises a song:
It sings from between the goats and the dogs
The flies all flutter, donkeys screech and you can hear the hogs
It's a murmur then a mutter
A small complaint
The Mother of Light
And the one-eyed Saint
The cry of the poor and the hideous sight
—of filth rotting, right and left
Smell the scent and watch your step
For out of these stones—?
Sons of Abraham.
The broken rocks cry out "Glory to God and to the Lamb"
—he was led through the trash and slime of the streets
up to the place they call "broken," pierced his hands and feet
So the mouth of the Lord has spoken the words of peace
To the sweat of the brow
A cup to the least and so the time is now
Up from the heap comes a hymn of praise
Al-Muizz and Mubarak in those days
The strength to fight
The joy to prevail
The future bright
And the Spirit to calm the weeping wails of all those who mourn in Mokattam
A crown of beauty instead of ash
A garment of praise in the midst of trash
They will be called "righteous oaks"
A planting of the Lord of hosts
For the display of his splendor and his majesty
In the middle of what the world calls a travesty
A dirty, dank and dark danger
My Lord and my God you call it a manger!
You plant your seeds where no one else sows!
You work your deeds where no one else knows
—where nothing grows!
But Lo! A wine press and a watchtower
(We are faithless and we doubt your power)
But yet BEHOLD! …a flower
It pushed its way through the grimy pit
And burst forth from the mud and the mire
It grew past the smile spit
And then it reached for hard and lyre
And from where it sprang—?
There it stuck.
For there it sang,
"Lord, you raise me up."
Amin.
- Tim
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