Between Gaza and Syria

Beteen Gaza and Syria

By Tarif Youssef-Agha

They shelled it with everything you can imagine

They shelled it until the blood became as a falls

They leveled its houses to the ground, they turned them into ruins

The human remains were removed by baskets

They destroyed the buildings, the trees and the people

Most of those who paid the price were the children

Whole families were eliminated

Parents, sons and uncles

The killers poured their hatred and savagery into it

They killed the dreams of the people for generations to come

They divided its people into inhabitants of graves or hospitals

Or inhabitants of tents or immigration seekers

They shelled it by land, sea and air, but also

By the treachery of the dirty rulers

Some of them closed the borders

Others supported the killers with men, arms and money

…

…

I was asked “are you talking about the land of dignity; Gaza?”

“Or are talking about the land of heroes; Syria?”

I said “I’m talking about both of them, as our killer is one

Our killer was planted among both of us to keep us divided

Two gangs who represent two sides of the same coin

They turned the paradise of our Homelands into wrecks

Two gangs who are protected by the whole world

The world condemns what they both are doing, but still has its heart with them

Oh people of Gaza and Syria, God bless you

You pledged to achieve the impossible

To fight the thugs and the beasts of the human being

And to be those who defeat them all

***

A Poem translation

(Can be shared without permission)

Tarif Youssef-Agha

An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet

Member of the ‘Syrian Revolutionary Writers Assembly’

Friday August 8, 2014, Houston, Texas

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