Córdoba, Op. 6

That the flame of west be vanquished,
the light of al-andalus be forever faded,
its thousand palaces abased. The seat
of caliphate lost, its legacy shattered,
splintered into parts less than the whole;
all this done, in a flickering moment of time,
as if an insult to its glory so long cultivated.
So prophesied him, once peerless, now struck
low by age and dolour, atop a tower far above
his city of one hundred libraries. In his eyes,
his enemies are dehumanised into an army of darkness;
he sees them trample his descent, felling his faithful
with swords unmasked, defaceiting upon his civilization;
a destiny he cannot avoid.
Such a fate is offered for his deathbed, such a
view dominates the skies, and no wonder he prefers the
view below as his life flickers; his city
of countless splendors.