Eastern sun, intricate and golden,
Covered with strange characters
That tell us if we can but read
That Yusuf son of Ayyub,
Salah ed-Din, struck this coin
In Alexandria and declares
There is no God but Allah alone
And Mohammed is His Prophet.
Western moon, rough and silvery,
Tells in plain Latin that
Richard of Aquitaine struck this
And only the cross, symbol of life and death,
Marks this as Christian.
But both sail with false colours.
The gold with silver alloyed is
As Outremer divided was
Between Frank and Paynim,
And martial strife softened
By rich eastern silks.
The silver with base copper is mixed
As the light of fervent zeal was enriched
With the blood of many corpses
Because two races, two beliefs, two cultures,
Strove to hold the same piece of ground.
This metal remains to tell
Of that ancient strife
And give a message to the world
That peace can only come
By sharing one-to-one
This world of beauty
Only ours by gift…
Photographs and poem
© Angela Grant (Kestrel) 2003 |
