大象传媒

Reza Mohammadi was born in Kandahar and is one of the leading poets writing in Persian today. In his poem Odysseus, returning from war, somehow winds up in Kabul and cannot escape it. Here 'the capital of stone', he is doomed to witness murder and decapitation of humans and gods alike. Even the topography of the Afghan capital parallels Homer, and all is soured by war. The mountain where Apollo resides is where the Scud missiles were fired from. The Tora Bora complex is like Polyphemus, the Cyclops's, cave. One of the holiest places in the city is where, now, addicts go to smoke opium. Nick Laird, the poet from Northern Ireland, worked with Mohammadi to render his poem into English. It is a work of astonishing, disturbing images, and yet is compellingly beautiful.

The Afghan musician Milad Yousofi plays specially composed music on the rubab.

Producer: Julian May.