With Eyes Fixed on a Distant Soccer Field, Iraqis Leap at a Reason to Celebrate
BAGHDAD, July 29 — The bare statistics will record that in the 71st minute of a soccer tournament 5,000 miles from Iraq, a Kurd from Mosul kicked a ball onto the head of a Sunni from Kirkuk, who ricocheted it into the goal to secure a 1-0 victory for Iraq over Saudi Arabia on Sunday in the final of the 2007 Asian Cup.
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On July 29th of the year two-thousand and seven, The Lions
of the Two Rivers rumbled to a much welcomed conquest;
a country torn asunder, wobbling over an impending loss,
was offered a respite of her recent consumption of warfare.
For many, as victory swept through the strident air
like a dauntless charger, it was hard to imagine, bittersweet, impossible;
a swooning land takes refuge where it may- pure Arabian, heart
and soul- “Iraq! Iraq!” “Peace for Iraq!” hung loudly on the air.
“I hope this victory will unite my country”
where nights have been extremely warm with the color of hostility.
This- This night would be different, a voyage made for tomorrow.
“I want the Americans out of Iraq”... (One victory at a time.)
© 2007 mrp
