Art and poetry on page and stage
12
Ilka Scobie
On the Destruction of the 7th Century Winged Bull
of Assyria in Mosul, Iraq
The crowned head represents intelligence
No sapient shards penetrate the hatred
That shatters ancient artifacts
Horned caps were added to the secret tree
of life as a good luck charm
Cursed luck creates decapitators,
book burners, woman haters
Wings, sovereign power’s symbol
Soaring possibilities denied to
freedom seeking women
imprisoned by ferocious fundamentalism
Words survive sledgehammers
O, for the cuneiform’s curse:
Whoever would destroy the creation of my hands,
Let the great lord destroy his name and posterity on earth
.