In the Land of Maow Maow
The residents of Damascus, Syria use the term (Maow Maow) to refer to an imaginative land in the heart of a jungle where there is no civil law and the natives are cannibals. The term is usually used as a “mockery” to refer to a situation of injustice and suppression. I tried once to geographically locate it, but I found out that it doesn’t exist.
In the Land of Maow Maow
By Tarif Youssef Agha
In the land of the Maow Maow
Everything can happen
Lives can be turned upside down
There is no one who is safe
From being killed
And no one is bigger than
Being dragged in the streets
There is no one who
Has a feather on his head
Or who is not a drug dealer
Or will be dead
For half a century, this land
Has been mixed with blood
***
Nothing there will stop a dummy
From snatching the throne
Like a bunny
Or from becoming a worshiped god
While he is the dumbest of the dumb
But in destroying,
He is the best of the best
Nothing there will stop him
No task or test
From inviting vicious foreign forces to protect him
By killing the rest
Or from inviting Hajooj and Majooj (the marauders from the East according to the book of Prophet Daniel in the Old Testament)
In order to help him fight his people
He is ready to invite the worst of the worst
To help him stay in power
To keep everybody cursed
***
In the land of Maow Maow
Cannibalism is still practiced
Even now
They are still slaughtering humans
Not recognizing that humans are not cows
As they have no mercy in their hearts
And have no sight in their eyes
In this land
The king is chosen from the vulgar
Through tricks and through lies
And imported from different people
In order to be his peoples’ best enemy
And their biggest demise
You will discover in this land that
Your neighbor is watching you
And even your brother
Is spying on you
With sneaky eyes and ears
S your life will be filled by fear
Is not a coincidence
My dear
***
In the land of Maow Maow
Prisons are homes and towns
With no chains nor bounds
Torture is life
Terrorism is food
Regardless of where it was found
Every citizen has a charge
That doesn’t drop but only by death
Do not look for this land anywhere
It is located everywhere
It is located in every land where
The human being has no value
Killing is a state policy
And spitefulness is the state title
In the land of Maow Maow
***
Tarif Youssef-Agha
An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet
Member of the ‘Syrian Revolutionary Writers Assembly’
Modified by: Evan Youssef-Agha
Friday August 31st. 2012
Houston, Texas
http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry