I read a lot of History

I read a lot of History

By Tarif Youssef Agha

I read a lot of History about

Liars and traitors like Al-Alkami and Musailuma (from the Arabs’ History)

And about mass war criminals like Hulagu and Tamerlane (Mongol conquerors)

Who made their food and drink from human flesh and blood

And about those who betrayed even prophets

As Judas (Iscariot) who handed over The Son of Mary

I read and read and read, but I haven’t read about

Someone who handed his homeland to the enemy

Or about someone who shelled his country with chemical weapons

And sat fire in all its corners

Or about someone who forced millions of his people

To flee their homes

I read about someone who committed massacres against foreigners

But not against his own people

All that, while the whole world is doing nothing

Just as if it is suffering from deafness and blindness

A world that invites the butcher to conference after conference

Instead of taking him to the court

Oh you cowards, but these are the people of Syria

The people who taught the whole world heroism and sacrifice

Call it a civil war or call it what you like

But our people swore to complete their revolution

They finally retrieved their stolen dignity

And signed an eternal contract with freedom

***

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 April 18, 2014, Houston, Texas

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