You are in a DREAM WINDOW

   Testimony of the North Wind 

I came out of the north,
traveling through the night sky,
the lights of cities below in seeming calm.
I flew farther south
and saw lights in the air,
heard the sound of distant thunder,
and knew this was a nation at war,
but knew not with whom they engaged battle.

I passed over
and panic was in the sky
and many lights of red, orange, and green.
At either side
two great rocks warred
and between was a little space
that wove and twisted
and was fairly safe to pass through.

There were many green lights flying
between the two clashing rocks
and these were aircraft
that fired upon each other,
and I wove and twisted in the little space
to avoid their wrath.

I looked to my left,
and the rock was large and spread out
with red light arching like a great vaulted dome
and many green globes
and clamorous green war planes,
and I looked to my right
and saw a smaller rock:
yet it was more stout and fierce
than the greater rock with which it clashed.

And it was as a wall of lights,
green and red,
reaching high toward heaven,
and many war planes came from it
which were loud and terrifying:
yet I held this small rock in my favor
and bursts of bloody light came up
from the ground and cities on either side.

Then the noise and chant of battle
trailed off behind me
as I passed over
and turned to the west.
Suddenly I saw many red flashes on the ground
and the heat of war came up into my face,
shining far below me.
And it was as the former place
which was at war, but knew not with whom,
and mighty was this land and an astonishment.

Quickly I flew over,
and the clamor and flashing of lights was behind me.
The land turned dark and peaceful,
the air was silent,
and the cities slumbered,
save for the whisperings of ghosts
speaking of distant times
both behind and ahead
and of battles that were and are yet to come.

AND the northern land from whence I came forth
is called Turkey
AND the first country over which I flew
which was in confusion
and at war, yet appeared to know not with whom,
is called Syria.

AND the two warring rocks were nations
valiant in combat,
the larger of which was called Iraq
and the land of Jordan
which had been swallowed up by Iraq
and fought as one with their captains of war.
The smaller rock which is more stout and fierce
than the greater rock with which it clashed
is the nation of Israel
AND her wrath is terrible,
and the clashing of both rocks was frightful to see.

AND the way which wove and twisted between the two
was that part of the land of Jordan
not yet consumed by the kingdom of Iraq
and that place to be called Palestine.
AND the mighty nation whose weapons
and heat of war came up into my face is the land of Egypt.
AND Syria and Egypt were as rocks themselves
and the first persecuted the little rock
which is more stout than its neighbors,
but the second hated the great rock
and sought to smash it to pieces.

AND the land which darkened
where cities glowed in slumber
was the desert of Libya
AND the ghosts which whispered
were the dead slain of Italy
which were of the time behind.
AND they did prophecies
saying hateful things of Rome,
vowing that in the time ahead
it too would become a city of ghosts.

Michael McClellan 

© 1998-2001 Michael McClellan

DREAM WINDOWS --

Where poetry, visions, and dreams become one

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