I entered a torn city
veiled in tapestry
of unfulfilled dreams

like jealous lovers
competing for the sky

a desert mourning
its unquenched thirst
children, men, women
eat from the same cup of Naan

my camel limped,
with two humps of water
the weight of Allah

something in the air
smelled rancid

I heard blasts,
thought them to be fireworks,
resounding blasts…….
anger meted
with mortar and shrapnel

Jihad in the sky
filtered colours of
pride, avarice, lust,
envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth.

I thought about Mathew’s passage

“It is far easier for a Camel to
enter through the eye of the needle
than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God”

Ahh I smiled to myself, Allah has heard my prayers,
my meager stature would certainly grant me
a place in the sky

I got down from my camel,
knelt on my knees and praised Allah

Just then, I looked up at the sky

another blast filtered through the air
sounds of screaming, wailing, running,
women and children hiding
in the dust

smell of fear mingled with
the rancid air

I thought about Allah, I thought about God
I thought about Mathew’s passage:

my camel with the weight on his back
crossing the desert with me

I wondered if he thought the same,
as we faced another day

the hole in the needle
getting smaller
and smaller

I pinched my flesh,
happy to be alive

teardrops streaming down
my face

My camel, oblivious to Mathew’s passage

I praised Allah


Joni Ramos
Copyright ©2007 Joni T. Ramos

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This story was inspired by Mathew’s biblical passage, God, Allah, and a Camel I never met.
As to context: In ancient Jerusalem, there was a gate in the wall called "The Needle," which was so narrow that one had to take everything off one's camel, before the animal could pass through. So the metaphor about a camel passing through the eye of a needle is not so much about an impossible task, as about unpacking baggage.

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