Lully, Lulay

(Think of the night just before our bombers flew over Bhagdad, beginning the first Gulf War) The desert moon was empty that spring night when sleepless, I arose, forsook my bed and stumbled through the streets devoid of light but from the stars, and then just overhead I heard a mother singing of her love while less ethereal flights beyond her range drew closer, and would resound above, a song elegiac, and soft, and strange. I stopped, and listening, was thus beguiled: "The shadows soon will pass. Allah is nigh. Its time to close your eyes my darling child. It's time for me to weep...for you to die." ~