umkahlil

“Cry my beloved country” *

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



By Raja Mattar



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