The Country of Massacre

The Country of Massacre

By Tarif Youssef Agha

Out of a sudden, the title of Syria has been changed

From the country of civilization to the country of massacre

So it became the destination of every avenger

And every one who is seeking a leadership or domination

Death has visited every house in it

And blood flowed on its ground as rivers

All ways of killing have been used in it

From burning people alive to slashing throats

The victim numbers reached unimaginable level

And became years what we thought would last months

Its borders became crossing lines for the foreign thugs into it

But for its sons, the same borders became crossing lines to flee from it

ISIS, to the Assad regime,

Is just like a dish that found its lid

One of them customized from the resistance a suit that fits him

And kept putting it on and taking it off as desired

The other one assigned himself a Caliph, with the sword

By the act of beheading, he mutilated the face of religion

Before that, POG (the Lebanese Party of God) was pushed to the game

Those who howl “Oh Hussein, we are coming”

All those are just pieces in the nations’ game of chess

When the game is over, all of them end in the graveyard

No one cares about the ordinary people

As those are always like merchandise; to be sold and purchased

Oh Syria, don’t be sad. You will overcome all the world thugs

And history will register that for you as glory

They are disappointed, all those who thought that

Putting the revolution down will be like going to a picnic

The Syrian people, after their long fasting,

Will not accept to break it with an onion (proverb)

They will not accept any alternative to freedom as a lover

Freedom loves those who write its chronicles with their blood

***

A Poem translation

(Can be shared without permission)

By Tarif Youssef-Agha

An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet

Member of the ‘Syrian Revolutionary Writers Assembly’

Friday September 12, 2014, Houston, Texas

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