They Said “We Wished You A Happy Feast”

They Said “We Wished You A Happy Feast”

By Tarif Youssef Agha

They said “we wished you a happy feast, but you didn’t respond”!

I said “sorry but I didn’t know which feast you were talking about”!

I looked into Homs, Aleppo and Daraa (Syrian cities)

I only found innocent people being killed

I searched in Al-Ghoota and Jobar (Damascus suburbs)

I only found people who were under hunger siege

I asked every where in Syria

To find people who were forced to flee their homes

I wouldn’t be hiding a secret if I tell you that I didn’t find a feast

But I found people who were being shelled or crucified

If all that is not enough for me to be excused

Then tell me, by God, what are feasting for?

***

They said “we invited you to the celebration, but you didn’t come”

I said “sorry but I didn’t know what you were celebrating”!

Were you celebrating the explosive barrels dropped by the (Assad) regime?

The barrels which demolish the houses and bury their people underneath

Or celebrating the knives which have been carried by ISIS?

And the humans who have been slaughtered with it like sheep?

Or celebrating the boats of death which bring daily news?

News about those immigrants who sank to the bottom of the sea

Or celebrating the nonstop increase of the victims’ number?

Those who were, just up to yesterday, dreaming about the future

When I couldn’t find in all that a material to celebrate for,

I, then, asked myself “You, what are you celebrating?”

***

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 November 7, 2014, Houston, Texas

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