City in the East - Emma Moughabghab

At the centre, upon the peak of the grey hill,
you hold the beating heart of the gyroscope;
it goes round and round and back again:
surrounded by fleeting shadows of multiple lives,
it melts in the summer heat in an iridescent simulation
of the shimmering lights and whispering voices of the city.

The rooster’s crow rises with the morning call to prayer,
incongruous among the waking sounds, slithering through the alleys,
it echoes in the winding ways between shouldered buildings;
bears upwards in a spiraling maze of plastered bricks,
through bending roofs, laden monuments and innumerable breaths.

As the city rises blanketed by the daring rays of the sun,
the rainbow canopy of skin and sound pours into the streets,
welling up in the morning vibe, it seeps into nooks and crannies,
trampling stone and tarmac to the beat of stirring life.

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Emma Moughabghab (20th century) Lebanon