From my 2013 Arabic diary, upon returning to Damascus from Jordan, rejecting the US-led intervention in Syria. Image by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz
DAMASCUS –
Let them gloat—
no harm at all, then let them gloat.
Let them cheer,
and clink their glasses, loud and clear—
for tomorrow we will bear
another homeland to its bier.
So dance, go on—ignite the night,
with fireworks that blaze so bright,
yours and those your masters send—
what’s it to you, how things will end?
This land, you say, belongs to you—
so do with it what you will do.
You roam its markets, black and bare,
you trade its soil, its children there.
Bravo to you, O merchants of Sham—
buy and sell, as suits your hand.
Strike, then—strike with all your might,
turn your brothers into blight.
And justify each treacherous role
with treason mirrored, soul for soul.
Excuse defeat with more defeat,
submission dressed as something neat—
your logic stands, so cold, so tight,
a perfect mask for what you write.
Congratulations—take your claim:
to own the ruin, own the shame.
To break what’s left, to end the thread—
and call it justice, as it’s bled.
فلتشمتوا ..
لا ضيرَ في أن تشمتوا
و لتفرحوا
و لتقرعوا كؤوسكمْ ببعضها
فغداً نشيّع جثّة وطن ثانيةْ
و لترقصوا و لتلعبوا بمفرقعاتكمُ
و مفرقعات أسيادكمُ
ما همّكمْ؟
هذا الوطن .. لكمْ
تفعلون بهم ما شئتمُ
تسرحون بسوقه السّوداءْ
تضاربون على (ترابهِ) و (أطفالهِ)
مرحى لكمْ ، تُجارَ الشّامْ
فلتبيعوا و لتشتروا
و لتضربوا بكل ما أتيتم من قوةٍ
أخوتكمْ ..
و لتبرروا الخيانةَ بالخيانةِ ..
و التّخاذلَ بالتّخاذلِ ..
و التّبعيّةَ بالتّبعيّةِ ..
فالمنطقُ معكمْ
هنيئاً لكمْ
تملكون أن تدمروا ما تبقى من بلادنا ..
بوجه حقْ
Roumani Line 