When Freedom Arrived
I recited this poem in Detroit/Michigan as I was invited by The Syrian Expatriates organization to attend its conference On the Verge of Transition Saturday, November 19, 2011. The conference was initiated to support the Syrian Revolution for freedom and dignity, and also hosted members of The Syrian National Council
When Freedom arrived
Life returned
By Tarif Youssef Agha
We did not know freedom in my country
We used to hear about it in the media
They were saying that it is beautiful
And that being close to it is a blessing from heaven
And that living without it is a curse
Like living without water and air
We also used to hear about it from the expatriates
Our regime used to classify the expatriates as enemies
The regime always wished they would never return
But if they did, it quarantined them as if they had an epidemic
Forbidding our citizens from traveling abroad was a policy
They used to tell us that all countries outside ours were bad
They also used to tell us that freedom is a shoe invented by the West
It doesn’t fit the hooves of our stupid people
And that the best freedom for us is the one given by our rulers
As our rulers are half Gods, half Prophets
And that their oppression against us is for our benefit
And the fire they use to burn us is a blessing from heaven
And that their drilling (wise) site is always right, even if it drills us
As their eyes are the ones that can see, but ours are blind
They lied to us and isolate us from the rest of the world
They oppressed us, jail us and treated us as if we were servants
But despite all of that, freedom finally arrived here
It stormed like winds, through all barricades and inspectors
The regime didn’t receive it with flowers, didn’t even welcomed it
It was, instead, received by coffins filled with shredded bodies
The regime didn’t cover the streets for it with red carpets
But filled the cities with red lakes
The regime came out to greet it with tanks and cannons
And with hissing and barking security forces and armed thugs
On the other hand, the people who waited long for it, gave it a hug
They gave freedom their sons as proof of love and loyalty
They received it by glorifying and singing songs and anthems
They opened the roads for it with caravans of martyrs
They told it that its place is after God and the Homeland
And that every other claim is not what they believe
They said that the moon without it is pale
And the sun away from it is dark
Humanity loves freedom from the very beginning
But dictators are its worst enemy
To the people, the name of freedom substitutes for life
But it is the most hated name to the rulers
It is their worst nightmare as well
Seeing freedom, to them, is the same as seeing death
As a matter of fact, ordinary death is more favorable to them
Ordinary death takes them quietly while they are in glory, but freedom takes them loudly and in humiliation
Ordinary death takes them in singles, freedom takes them in groups
Dictators don’t know any disaster worst than freedom
They enlarge when it is away, but shrink when it is nearby
To them, it’s the difference between being fulfilled and being miserable
But to the nation, if freedom is taken away
It is as taking away its tongue and leaving it mute
A nation without freedom is a nation that lives in mud
And keeps panting behind its master as puppies do
How many revolutions took place for its sake?
How much did it enrich history and inspire poets?
And here it is today saying to our people ‘Cheer up’
And saying to our rulers ‘Go, as the time of blood in gone’
***
Poetry by: Tarif Youssef-Agha
An expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet
Houston, Texas
Friday, November 18, 2011