I always enjoy reading new poems by David Cooke, and hope to see more from him in the future. We're very lucky to see one of his new poems, Pilgrims, here. Thanks, David! He has recently had poems published in The Cortland Review and London Grip Poetry Review, and on websites The Screech Owl and The Dock, with a forthcoming poem in the Irish Literary Review. David's excellent latest poetry collection, Work Horses, is available from Ward Wood Publishing, and he also has a page on the poetry pf site.
PILGRIMS
for
Ziyad, Tamim & Rafiq
When the day has come,
you will make a journey
to the city of Mecca.
Each of you a pilgrim
dressed in white,
you will cast the
stones
that set you free
from Shaitán, the evil
one.
Circling the Ka’aba
you will feel around
you
the crowd surging
like a river in spate;
and though it’s a
distance
I cannot travel,
the scallop shells
on my school badge
made me a pilgrim too
like those who had
tramped
to the far-flung shrine
of Santiago
de Compostela
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