Iraqi poet Ahmed Abdel Sara recites a poem in the ruins of Baghdad’s Al-Mutanabbi street, March 5th, 2007. Photo: Al-Saadi/AFP/Getty Images

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb destroyed blocks of a street in Baghdad with a history dating back to the 8th century as a site where booksellers displayed their wares and people gathered to exchange ideas. The street has since been repaired, rebuilt and reopened. The world remains besieged by violence. Memory and culture persist.

At 5pm Monday the 23rd, we will honor the human spirit that prevails in the face of unspeakable horror, with poets gathering to commemorate the anniversary of a juncture in the Iraq war that presaged the current horrors bedeviling humanity.

Mohammed Al-Khashali, owner of the Al-Shabandar Café on Al-Mutanabbi Street, who lost four sons and a grandson in the tragedy of March 5, 2007. https://en.964media.com/30635/