The King's Banquet Poem by Daniel Brick

This is the fourth of my five Sufi-inflected poems. It is a parallel to the second. Or perhaps it is better to call it a counter poem to the second. In the second the Mullahs plot against fellow believers they consider lax and sinful; the Mullahs do their plotting in their
closed-in homes. In the fourth poem, there is an outdoor celebration for everyone, and no one is passing judgment on anyone else. The King himself is leading the festivities, emphasizing nothing will darken the gathering. The birds that fly in and nest in the garden trees are paralleled by angels who have brought gifts from heaven for the feast. This is meant to be an inordinately carefree and candid display of joy. And it involves everyone with an equal invitation to participate in the King's Revels.