‘The Tigris, the blessed mother’: a message from the poets of Baghdad today…

By the statue of the medieval Arab poet Al-Mutanabbi on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad, contemporary Iraqi poets share their thoughts on the current state of music, poetry, and society today. This poem also includes interviews with local artisans in the area of Abu Nuwas, located along the banks the Tigris and named after a famous classical Arab poet.