Mansehra, Pakistan 

In Pakistan the concrete soars
to second floors on heads of men
                stepping up
a scanty frame of wooden boards.

Others tread a steeper stair
to paradise fair, mounting there
                on wave on wave
of volatile, tempestuous air.

We all work to meet our god
whether we plod or, rapt, explode
                with rising flair
into sweet smoke of our jihad.

To view an audio-visual version of this poem, the words voiced over footage of men carrying concrete to the second floor of an under-construction building (the scene that inspired the poem), click here or go to:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOlLtQVo3IU