Upon the rainbowed bridges of Baghdad,
Brimmed baskets, balanced carefully
Above black abas flowing free,
Glide through thick crowds, responsibly.
Here are some curving fish
Swimming on ice in a dish;
And here some peppers, red and green,
Mixed with peeled onions, white and clean;
Rose pomegranates and yellow pears
Piled high like beaded palace stairs;
Some frightened chickens, staring down
To make a feathered jewel-eyed crown.
Melons striped and shimmering grapes,
Heaps of eggs and mounds of dates,
Leban, biscuits, nuts, and bread
All ride in state upon the head.
Brimming baskets lifted high
Raise rainbowed bridges in the sky.
The Baskets of Baghdad
Fifty reprinted poems from the original 1967 text; a musical score of the title poem; Baghdad and Victoria, BC intermingled in a requiem short story; and a historical, cultural, literary essay in poetry and prose on the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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