Saturday 1 March 2014

Freedom is at the door


Ibrahim Qashoush (born 3 September 1977 - died 4 July 2011) was a fireman and amateur poet from Hama, Syria. He sang and authored songs mocking Syrian president. On 4 July 2011, Qashoush was found dead in the Orontes River, his throat cut and his vocal cords ripped out. After his murder, fellow protesters hailed Qashoush as the "nightingale of the revolution". This poem is for him.

A dawn chorus sung from within your dusk
What they took from you cannot be measured
Immeasurable loss
Daily slips through fingers
Raised in protest
Raised in the expectation of change

Nightingale of the revolution
So cruelly silenced
As you sang of freedom
Prisoners came to your door
And ripped your finely tuned instrument
From you

It is too much to contemplate
As the river flows on
Others will make music and sing …
Showing forth spring before its appearing
And many more will doubtless die

What will it take for the shut door
To creak open?
When will it be? When will she rise?

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