The World Cup and the Syrian Cup
The World Cup and the Syrian Cup
By Tarif Youssef-Agha
This is Brazil hosting the World Cup
And this is Syria hosting the Freedom Cup
Everyone is busy with the World Cup
And no one is watching the Syrian Cup
The world teams are scoring their goals openly
The teams in Syria have secret goals
Their teams are from all countries and colors
Some of our teams are pro Halesh (Party of God); some are pro Daaesh (ISIS)
In the World Cup, they kick (soccer) balls
In Syria, they kick human heads
Their audience fills the stadiums
Our audience is used to fill the mass graves
Their audience is hit with water-balloons
Our audience is hit with explosive barrels
Their players wear colorful shirts
Our players only wear blood-colored shirts
Their players are honored by being carried on the shoulders
Our players are honored in wooded caskets
Their penalties are balls kicked to the goal
Our penalties are artillery shells and ballistic rockets
The competition there is in the number of goals
But here, it is in the number of the massacres and which one is more vicious
Their referees hold international licenses
Our referees hold Russian guns
The cameramen of their games return to their homes safely
Our cameramen return to their homes in bloody coffins
Oh Syria, don’t be sad, their Cup is not for you
Your Cup is the one you are filling with human dignity
In the playoffs, all the teams of Darkness will be defeated
And your Cup will not go to any, but the team of 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 June 27, 2014, Houston, Texas
http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry