Copihue Poetry

الخاين يلي بيقتل شعبه
“The traitor is he who kills his people”
—Video of women and men across
from the Libyan Embassy,
Damascus, 22 February 2011

 

 

Women, men     candles in their hands
hundreds     chant
“Traitor, he who kills his people”
into Damascus night
louder than they’ve ever heard themselves
Three brown-haired women crowdcenter
their mouths vast with voice
faces tearstreaked
redefine treason,
their necks
in grabbing reach of state police
And in this moment they morph
into singing beings, chanting beings
and life—everything—changes
and they know it     they know it

 

Tell the next generation
how the tears stream down their faces making them shine
how the wax drips from the candles burning their hands