A walk through Baghdad

Bending alders in a forest lost

To find my way I memorize the trees

And smell the air the remnants of rain

My boots are wet socks soaked

With the days journey

I am full of history I am not alone

Warriors walked this line before

And left not a map but bent alders

I can’t tell if I a m walking in their shoes

Only that I feel different

My feet fit into the ground beneath me

Instead of on top

They conform now much different than when I was young

Not aware of the importance of my feet touching the earth

More and ore of us are leaving

Our home and moving to captivity

Linked together ‘centric’ concentric

And our feet no longer touch the ground

And nor do our lives

I walked this walk before

And never felt my feet

I feel the energy and the sadness and feel a rhythm

Tonal impulses they reverberate through each step

Each a different meaning

I only wished I walked some more

© S.I. Shaw