Beirut, the Martyred City

A sudden whirlwind of fire and flames rented of the sky once serene,
This Tuesday the fourth day of August, a blast scourged the wide portland scene.
Is this atomic mushroom cloud spreading again?
What we saw was a view that came from hell,
Great beam of iron all twisted as well.
One could not believe what the eye revealed
As one scanned across the ghastly field.
The very ground trembled along the shore
And up in heaven one heard the great roar.
Indoors and outdoors, the dead lay by the score
And the wounded were found by hundreds more.
East of the Middle Sea, once a place of peace,
A columnar flame exploded and seemed it will not cease.
Against the Mount of soaring Sannin,
From the fair isle of Cyprus, the horror was seen.
May there be a new dawn for a city which for beauty it was born.

An extract of the Poem by Joseph Matar
Adaptation by Kenneth Mortimer (My dear friend Mr. Kenneth died during the time he was translating the text)