Hello friends! This is Ruby, leader of the Harlem Girls Club at Polo Grounds. In honor of LitWorld's "Change is in the Air" campaign to send a plane filled with school supplies to students in Iraq, I wanted to share a poem I wrote for Iraqi peace activist Farah Abrahim.
Last month, I was paired up with Farah to translate her story through poem for the International Day of Peace event at the Church Center for the United Nations. I listened to her story, and asked her to give me a list of words that describe her childhood. This poem is my humble offertory in celebration and gratitude for her work fighting and standing for peace.
Iraqi Sky
In America I long to remember what an Iraqi sky looks like at dawn
If in the brim of the sun’s rising, it enjoys a quiet peace
Does it sigh after the smoke unravels like ribbons
Like spirits ascending to be set free
In Iraq, prayer is an anthem draped across a battlefield
Farah at the Church Center for the UN
Last month, I was paired up with Farah to translate her story through poem for the International Day of Peace event at the Church Center for the United Nations. I listened to her story, and asked her to give me a list of words that describe her childhood. This poem is my humble offertory in celebration and gratitude for her work fighting and standing for peace.
Iraqi Sky
In America I long to remember what an Iraqi sky looks like at dawn
If in the brim of the sun’s rising, it enjoys a quiet peace
Does it sigh after the smoke unravels like ribbons
Like spirits ascending to be set free
In Iraq, prayer is an anthem draped across a battlefield