With Hope
Winter yawns; a stoney wind dashes against white nylon ghosts, half buried beneath sand and mud which, occasionally, reveals a blackened cooking pot.
Old broken olive branches tied with yarn, improvise a washing-line snapping above the morass. Frozen socks hang on, as if for dear life; their toes stab against needle-sharp gusts.
Spring, just a gentle blood warm beat away; slowly manages to penetrate beneath the undulating weight of earth and rubble, which crushes the many broken bones.
Oblivious to war, it’s not long now before green shoots attempt to thrust between ribs and empty eye-sockets.
The verdancy is unaware of the foreign savages and their bull-dozers, coming to rape the land which once was so beautiful.
Slowly, the lost people will return to their roots; they will grow stronger and enjoy their wanders among the flowers.
Anemone (Anemone coronaria; Red Crown Anemone
Persian Crowfoot (Ranunculus asiaticus; Turban Buttercup)
Poppy (Papaver umbonatum Boiss; Semitic Poppy)
Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)
Faqqua iris (Iris haynei)
Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum)
Lupine (Lupinos Pilosus)
Red Sharon Tulip (Tulipa agenensia)
Forests of pine, cypress, acacia, oak, eucalyptus stand tall, adding their weight and might behind the people’s struggle.
Spring’s beauty will give them hope.
Calcareous Ooze
My skin is fair, my cousin’s, not.
But our blood unites us, running red.
No need for war – Nemaye neobkhidnosti ou voini
Together we bond with the flowing of our blood,
Which tastes of the shackles born of blistering iron.
No need for hate – Nie ma potrzeby nienawiści
There is no difference beneath our skin,
All are equal on this earth—
We live, give birth, work, take pleasure, love, struggle,
feel pain, and die—
Take courage, and love – Nehmen Sie Mut und Liebe
Shred us all down to our bones
To discover our kindred bodies—
Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.
Potassium, sulphur, sodium, chlorine, magnesium—
We do not want war – My nay khotim voyny
In death, we return to the place from where we all came—clay, loam, silt,
sand, peat, chalky soil—or—indeed, from the ocean’s depth, calcareous ooze.
And for everyone, it is the same.
Say no to hate – Dweud na i gasáu
Say no to war – Duì zhàn zhēng shuō bù