My Work - Poetry

Death and Civilizations

Death has its sanctity and awe
When the funeral of a non-believer passed by
The prophet, peace be upon him, stood up
And so did his disciples
***
And Death has its machines
For the thousands of heads that have ripened
Are no longer a problem
For they have invented the guillotine.
Each time Robespierre nods his head
A head flies
And all the crowds laugh
And whistling fills the air.
The head of a prince
Laughter … shouting … whistling…
The head of a child
Laughter … shouting … whistling…
And the graves are mass graves
At the end of an exciting day
A revolution!
Down with the Bastille
Liberty!
Down comes the Guillotine
Fraternity!
Let the Guillotine come down
Equality!
And a head flies
Whose head?
Robespierre’s!…
***
And graves are mass graves in KOSOVO
And have no tombstones
You dig them out now
Out of fear of a beating up by the Serbs
And in a little while
Your body will be piled up in them
With a thousand emaciated corpses
Of people who have not tasted a morsel
For days and days
No witnesses!
Condoms for protection against AIDS
Are all over the floors
Of the building close by
Here lie the bodies of a boy and a girl
Raped before execution
And these are the bodies of an old man and old woman
Mutilated before being dragged to death
And here are the limbs
Of children torn and burned
What hideous scenes!
And the world looks on!
Graves in Kosovo are mass graves
Whilst the century is about to
Breathe out its last breath
And this is the century of computers
And atomic power
And Dolly the sheep
The century of invading the moon
Oh! For the folly of mankind.
How two world wars
Could not leave a mark on the
Memory of men
Oh! For the folly of mankind!
And for the evil of mankind!

Dubai, 1999