Sol 5.6

  1. When you come to Jurjan, carry word that his household

    have clasped the dust upon Baghdad’s shoulders.

  2. They scattered in every direction through the cavalry’s dust as it charged

    upon them—like ghouls beneath lions.

  3. A blind host met them and did not cease

    until it drank its fill of gore—the thirsty man’s mistaken draught.

  4. The blaze of our cannon-fire seared them,

    and struck them dead with lightning flashes and thunderclaps.

  5. Their slain, flung down, filled the ravines,

    like spoils of war beyond all count.

  6. Not a club remained in London where men gathered

    without that very club raising a grief-stricken wail.

Sol 5.6