A Dome of Many Colours

Porcelain dome decorated with luster made by Alisar Iram

I made myself a dome of many colours

A dome of the shades of the rainbow

Painting an inviolate circle of grace

I made myself an exquisite dome of love

And unto it I gathered:

The dreams of the children of Syria

Severed from the golden mother tree

Yet still trailing clouds of glory

 And unto it too I gathered

The unrequited young loves

Of the youths and young girls

Cut before the flowering

O, I made myself a dome of healing

And unto it I enfolded

The bereaved, the maimed, the homeless

And the broken shattered homes

 

Not I not I but Syria

Made itself a dome of the life to come

The peace to come

And the freedom to come

Alisar Iram , summer 2012

When I cannot bear to watch images of the dead and the dying and the mutilated children of Syria, I write poems of vision in order to remain sane.

©Alisar Iram