As-salaam alaikum,
he began,
and peace was upon me
I'd heard differently before:
of bombs! and guns! and fear
shot out of rifle barrels,
of cries that stem
from half, war,
and half-widows
but in the snow
(a few degrees below),
I heard less, saw more
and managed only to whisper,
Wa alaikum as-salaam
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