Thursday, July 28, 2005

From the poem You Came at Dawn by Iraqi poet Baland Haydari (my translation):
"You came at dawn
...and there was here
a massacre growing with
no pretext
and behind the gates of prison
there was hope
living in weakness
and there was for betrayal
a thousand hands stealing from
my mind
and from my free blood
the longing of dark nights
for dawn
*
You came at dawn
and we were here
being killed silently
and not knowing it
Do humans get crucified
do fires devour our houses
our little ones
just because we dream
of the dawn...?
But you came
and we were here
wondering where hope
will come from
from where...
It will not come
The sun will not rise
and in my house
the feet of my children
sink in death without sound
from where?..
It will not come
Our prison is blind with
no window
and our path is sinking
in the hole
and we are with no strength or power
but you came and
we were here
a story about our bitter past
and a convoy of glow
in our free dawn"