The Fire Eaters of Baghdad

Under the light of the empire
the world is fleeing the moon and its amber.

Some invoke the urge for peace.
Others fall asleep in alley ways.

They chew like dogs
the last bones of their longing.

Against the ancient curse and claim of power?
Huddled in blue mounds, open to rapture.

Only a river washes out memory.
Only a labyrinth sings

to another labyrinth. At midnight,
they call to each other. Who goes there?

The heart’s land glows in the fire
and the children, no ocean, eating that fire.