Click below to listen to Damascus.
Performed by : Jack and Adelle Foley
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DAMASCUS
Last year at Damascus it rained
Night fell at Damascus
Day broke,
The seasons went on.
_____Unceasing violence
Last year at Damascus the sun
_____The man
Shone for part of a day
_____Raised the gun to his
And then moodily disappeared
_____Temple
Clouds gathered
_____But couldn’t pull—
People moved
And shopped
_____Died of fright they said
And the merchants made or lost money
And there was some crime
And some were judged harshly
_____ Let me feel these sorrows
But lovers walked the streets
Even those whose love was secret
And people smiled
Or frowned
_____Crucifixion
As they pleased
_____Pierce my body
And the rivers moved on
_____Let me—
And I
Circumambulated
The Holy City.
Last year at Damascus
_____And the Remembrance
Was a year without sun or rain
Or night
Or day
Last year Damascus
DISAPPEARED WHOLLY
Vanishing into
My cloud-filled imagination
Until it became
_____Do you dream you can rule deep water?
My blood, my eyes,
My scabrous,
aging
body
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