Deadlines of killing
Nine months after the beginning of the Syrian revolution for freedom and dignity, and after thousands of dead and injured, and tens of thousands of detained and disappeared, the Arab league is still offering the bloody regime in Syria one deadline after another to stop the killing. The regional countries like Turkey are sending one warning after another and the international community is imposing one economical and political punishment after another. But obviously, the Syrian regime is not paying any attention to all that and keeps killing its citizens on a daily basis, believing that it is the only way to survive that revolution. From that background, came this poem.
Deadlines of killing
Every thing has an end
One deadline after another, after another
Wholesale deadlines, you will take them whether you agree or refuse
And why would you refuse them while
They, so far, are giving you the one chance after another to put down the revolution
And giving you one cover after another
To kill and oppress your people and unleash your monsters
The Arabic deadlines are the most generous
As soon as one is over, the next one arrive
Deadlines that have the brotherly spirit, the generosity and the taste of Manasseff (lamb stuffed with rice)
So, say (by the name of God) and take as much as you wish
Punishments were imposed on Maher, Rustom and Aaseff (top security officers)
But I don’t know how they snoozed on your (foreign) minister and your doctor (president)?
While the Turkish deadlines are sharper and more stormy
But they never crossed the borders, not even once
Those deadlines are also bitter, like the Turkish coffee
Didn’t they see you splashing them under your feet?
The foreign deadlines, on the other hand, provide you with coats
As your winter this year, as you know, is so cold
The foreign deadlines move with the speed of turtles
But, at the same time, practicing the proverb that says “I still like you even when I hate you”
Deadlines that have a lot of cautions and warnings
But which I don’t think you heard
Nothing strange about that, as the sound of cannons
And the roar of tanks must have put a hole in your eardrum
All the warnings make sense except the Russian’s
Their president warned yours of a “sad end”
His tears, on that day, were about to wet his dry face
And his nose extended until it exceeded all yours
And when it comes to the Iranian advises, we shouldn’t be amazed
Their president advised you to (use your brains)
He talked as if there are brains existing
In their heads or in yours!
He forgot that “He who doesn’t have something, can’t give it”
Beside, who else but him knows what is in your pockets?
“Birds of a feather flock together”
No wonder that his crows made friends with yours
I will be astonished if there is a single wise person who is still expecting fruits from you!
What are they expecting to harvest from your fields?
What is expected from you while everyone knows by now?
How you sold your lands and committed your massacres?
What is expected from those who tortured children?
We heard the story of Hamza (a 13 years old who was tortured to death) from your TV stations
And what is expected from those who burned the holy books?
We haven’t seen anyone shelling the churches and mosques except your forces
But, disregarding all that has happened
We will keep sending you deadlines, whether you like it or not!
Whether you accept them or you return them, you read them or you tear them up
We will send them and you can do whatever you want with them
Don’t let the ‘urgency’ of these deadlines scare you, as “critical” or “final”
These don’t really matter as long as all these deadlines are sent to help you!
***
Poetry by: Tarif Youssef-Agha
An expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet
Houston, Texas
Friday December 9, 2011
http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry