Al-Shareh woke up from his cave

Even though Farouq Al-Shareh, Assad’s Vice-president, has not been seen in public since last summer and his real fate is still mysterious, the regime revealed news a few days ago that the man was interviewed by a Lebanese pro-Syrian newspaper. An interview in which he urged the military opposition to stop fighting and come to talk with the regime which is ready (now) to give what he called ‘An Historic Settlement’

Al-Shareh woke up from his cave

Al-Shareh woke up from his cave where

He found the people were different, and so the world was

He found bullets hitting like heavy rain

And rising people demanding freedom

He asked for permission and refreshed his brain

And gave an interview to a Lebanese-Assad newspaper

He said that the (Syrian) conflict can’t be solved from outside

It neither can be won militarily

And that it shouldn’t be a matter of an individual or a regime

It should be a matter of the existence of Syria

He invited the rebels to the dialogue table

And promised them with compromises and ‘An Historic Settlement’

I would like to tell Al-Shareh, if he is still alive

No, the Free (Syrian) Army won’t negotiate with a snake

You (the regime) said “Either Assad or, we burn the country”

How come after you burned it you care about it?

Now, after you slaughtered, raped and tortured

You remembered to worry about it?

Oh Farouq, the time of dialogue is over

It was still possible before the incident of the children of the brave city of Darra

Before the massacres of the towns of Al-Hulah, Al-Qubbair and Daraia

And before your destruction of the heroic city of Homs

We all know that Syria has been destroyed many times through history

That it was burned many times by herds of invaders and dictators

But, also, that it was rebuilt again and became even more beautiful

And the mothers gave birth all over again so the population came back

The only ones who never came back were the invaders and the dictators

Our ancestors talked with them with the sharp swords of our Syria

So the Free Army is coming to talk with you, as you requested

But it will do so with the canon and the Kalashnikov

The Free Army will bring you heroes who love to die as martyrs

The same way you love to live as criminals and thieves

How come they believed they were good enough to rule our people?

A nation which fears God can’t be scared by human monsters

They killed themselves like what Barakesh* did (*a proverb about a female dog)

That is if they really understand the Arabic proverbs?

Oh Farouq, don’t feel bad as everyone knows that

Your value to them is not even equal to a fraction of a bullet

Tomorrow is not too far away

Tomorrow, the word of the revolution will be the highest

***

A Poem translation

Tarif Youssef-Agha

An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet

Member of the ‘Syrian Revolutionary Writers Assembly’

Friday December 21, 2012

Houston, Texas

http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry