The Burned Ruler

I wrote this poem in common Arabic language as a gift from my heart and conscious to the Yemeni people, especially for the Poetry Event and Mourning Dinner, Sunday September 18, 2011 in the Arab American Cultural Center, Houston, Texas, along with other poems honoring the martyrs of the revolutions in Palestine, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria.

The Burned Ruler

When the Ruler doesn’t listen to the people

The day it (the revolution) started in Yemen

I told you “Oh Saleh, go”

I told you “Oh Saleh, the throne is not worth it

That your family cries over your dead body”

The day I saw your burned face

I saw the shade of death at it

Wouldn’t it be better if you had left?

Then, you would have saved yourself all these wounds

Wouldn’t it be better if you had left with your dignity?

Or was it better that you were carried out by the ambulance?

Oh Saleh, they blasted you while you were watching

The homeland was wounded by your deeds

Oh Saleh, life is not only about benefits

Yemen is suffering from pain

Isn’t it enough for you, all these people who are flooding the squares?

Just like the flood of Noah

Your reputation, as you know, is not that good

You and your family now are openly exposed

Oh Saleh, you know how salty the taste of illegal fortune is

The smell of the illegal fortune comes from you and your family

Stay where you are, so you have fun with Bin Ali (of Tunisia)

If you both return, your blood will be shed

Your people like you more while you are away

Your people said that your return is not allowed

Your people said that if you return

A court will be waiting for you, and also an open grave

Oh Saleh, respect the white hair on your head

Leave your wounded people to live and heal

Oh Saleh, Yemen will not accept but to be on the summits

Yemen doesn’t want to live in the bottoms any more

The people said it clearly; they don’t want you any more

The people want to raise the country all over again

***

Poetry by: Tarif Youssef-Agha

Houston, Texas

September 2011

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