Sunday, March 11, 2007

“Cry my beloved country" *


By Raja Mattar


Cry for my non-existent childhood


Cry for my stolen youth


Cry for my uprooted olive trees


Cry for my village which lost its name


Cry for the maimed children


Cry for the widowed mothers


And cry for the raped land.


A land I tended with my tears



Yes, cry, as I am crying


For non-caring kin


Yes, cry as I am crying


For non-caring humanity


Cry because I stopped crying


I have no more tears to spare


I need them for my children’s graves

My children have gone to war


They will not come back alive


They think their blood will bring back the olive trees


They think that their blood will wipe out the infamy


Of kin who did not raise a finger


Of humanity which did not utter a word


To protect my olive trees

* Theme inspired by the title of the South African writer Alan Paton’s book “Cry the Beloved Country”

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