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[07-05-2005]
And from the graves the dead will scream

A Poem by Kadhum Jewad As-Samawi -

Arabic original text source: Sout al-Iraq

(www.sotaliraq.com), published May 7, 2005
(On the occasion of discovering a mass grave
containing 1500 bodies of mainly Kurdish
civilians murdered by Saddam's regime in the
1990s and buried near the city of Semawa, the
city of the poet.)
She slept
Resting on a sandy pillow
As young as a dream
Whose' rosy time
Past away
As fast as a flash
Her blanket
O' My Lord! was
The body of the dust
Her ribs
And the blond strand
Her whining mixed
With painful smash
Little eyes swept into sleep
Between bitter screams
Gasping, the sad decree
And what had to pass
At a moment containing
All sorts of fear
Since the existence of life
Without reckoning
Over thousands of years
*******
Tears flew freely from my eyes
Shocked by calamity
My feet pinned
My heart flattered
Like exhausted bird
As the arrow
wounded the wing

1500


( )

*****

*****
Creatures painfully cried
So did Earth, little herbs
And all what valleys contained
Responding to the plea
Of terrified enslaved
Due to the tremendous horror
The infliction
The sound of the bullet
As it disappeared
Within the hair strands
In total terror
*****
The eyes of a little Kurdish girl
Slept with bloody teeth
Eye pupils and lashes
O' Desert contain a baby
Crying to her mom
In a language of wailing
The mother was torn
Burning, before resting
On the dusty pillow
A mother destroyed
By aggression, blind hatred
Of the Destructive Ba'ath
*****
'My darling child'
She wanted to call her
She yelled calling
But a rush of scream
Of the amber of bullets
A rain of fire
Falling along with knives
And insults
****
The tyrants left
After they made sure
That all have rested
Among the dust of the valley
Silently
The Earth was muddy
No falcon was visiting
The Land
They rushed their steps
Looked back
Still, the cries echoed
Never let go

*****

,

*****

......
:

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*****
,

****
The dead silently whispered
To each other counting
How many there were
To reckon the number
of the goners

*****

A woman touched a Little one

With her lips
Calmed her down
After the torment

"My darling!
'We will go home someday
'To our town
'To our Landscape
'No matter how little
'Or great is our ordeal

'Even if our home was closed

'By this grave
'In spite of hatred
'Even when soil pours down
'We will have, my dear
'A door to the people
'Some day
'We will split asunder
'The sand and rocks
'We will get out as flowers
'In every Spring
'O' darling, the Rabab will sing
'We will flourish
'Every year and our blood
'Will turn into a scent
'Our Souls
'Will show the youth how to live

....

'My little one

'The Souls visit each other
'Without entering a door
'In the world of everlasting life
'There is no hardship any more"
****

The epochs of the dark night

With the wolves
Must go away
From a hurting Nation

*****

Tyranny is like a disease

It could be contained
By the efforts of the youngsters
And the young
Then the sun shines with beauty

And gladness
But the unjust tyrants
The sperms of the dogs
Those who tear the flesh
In every way
Those who transformed our lives
As in a jungle
Times ever change
They will have there day
****
"O' My sweet smiling darling
'Sweet face
'With the long strands
'The Aube of life
'Do not be sad
'All our remains
'Will parade
'Through the great mountains
'Throughout the land
'Do not feel sad
'Do not spill tears
'Diluted in blood
'No use for a cry
'Having a sad face
'I ask you to remember
'All you have seen
'The trail and palm trees
'They will witness our return
'Remember
'The roadways erected
'On top of the ruins
'Or what we saw of pigeons
' Or clouds with or without rain
'Or the returning birds
'Which cried for our departure
'When we were enslaved
'Remember the noise
'Of the grimy soldiers
'Who without will followed orders
'Don't you ever forget
'Tell the others
'Your beloved ones
'Or your companions:
"All these thousands
'Who were melted
'By the hatred of the bullets
'And the knives
'Will create the memory of times
'By the witnessing dead
'And all that was written

*****

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,

'And from the graves

'The dead will scream
"!'The reckoning shall begin