And who are you?
As soon as the revolutions of the Arab Spring started, the Arab leaders started to unveil their true faces and show how they see their people.
They also started to give those stupid speeches which made them look illiterate and immature. There was one who said to his people in revolt “The train has left you behind”. A second one described them as “Thugs”, a third one as “Germs”, a fourth one as “Rats” and a fifth one as “Agents”. But what drew my attention the most was that question from one leader to his people “who are you?” This poem comes to ask those leaders the same question:
And who are you?
And who are you, leaders, ‘may your mothers lose you’?
And who are you, ‘may your right hand be paralyzed’?
You are those who ruled but failed to deliver justice
Therefore you shouldn’t feel safe and you shouldn’t sleep
Your people revolted against you today
And you are chased everywhere
One of you was pushed away here and another taken to court there
One was pulled from the drain-pipes somewhere else
One was toasted here and in another place, the people are preparing
For one of you an end that never happened to anyone before
It is not only that you missed the train
But also the time has forgotten you
Even the rats have a role in their lives
But you, what is yours?
If you were rats
I would spray you with extermination materials
If you were germs
I would disinfect the country from your epidemics
If you were thieves or bandits
I would open the prison doors to welcome you
If you were just gangs of terrorists
I would make you an example to others
If you were just agents to foreign countries
I would charge you with treason and take you to court
But you are all that I said and more
Therefore, you deserve all that I said and more
You all deserve a sea to rise over you
Then to open wide and swallow you
You all deserve a volcano to roar and explode
Then to run to you and wash you away
You all deserve a destroying twister
To take you away
You all deserve a rain of fire
To drop over your head and burn you
Wait, you deserve more than that
You deserve a punishment beyond all imagination
You deserve a little orphan girl whose parents you killed
To lift her hands to the sky and ask for God’s vengeance
***
Poetry by: Tarif Youssef-Agfha
An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer and Poet
Washington DC
Friday 16 March 2012
http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry