Terrorism not a religion
“Where is my daughter?”
The mother asks,
Not knowing that her daughter
Couldn’t survive the blast.
She screams and shouts as the nurse tells her she died.
She grabs the nurses hand, “why did I survive!”
A Suicide
Author´s Note: For many of us, 27th March,Lahore in Pakistan was a repeat of APS. A large number of women and kids were not only killed but injured too. The play ground that once echoed with laughter of kids had turned into a pool of blood, agony and silence. The terrorists have ‘proudly’ accepted this inhumane act and have promised to carry out more attacks in the near future.
When red tickers splash the screens
There is a blast it means
Death toll increases
Everything around freezes
Hospitals are filled with withering lives
Husbands holding on to their wives
Mothers wail the child lost
‘Why me?’ oozes out of each wound
Alas! ‘Voters’ questions have no sound
‘Haves’ halfhearted promises
Their flowers, compensations
Can’t dampen
The ‘Have nots’ will to still live
These are not video animations
Angels sitting on clouds are waiting
To enter the world they are debating!
Oh Mother!
Price of a coffin is too dear to afford
Please cut off the umbilical cord
I am safe inside
Save me from his suicide…
Umaima Ahmed
(a journalist)
2:44 am
31 March 2016, Lahore, Pakistan
POETRY AGAINST TERROR : EBOOK PRESENTATION
Terrorism, which is one of the most important topics in the world today, refers to any act designed to cause ‘terror’ by means of violence or the threat of violence. As a fundamental rule, terrorism is politically and emotionally charged, because it is meant to instill fear within, and thereby intimidate people – an entire country or even the whole world. Terrorism is certainly frightening, but the best way we can fight it is by living our lives without terror.
At the United Nations webpage on terrorism, http://www.un.org/en/terrorism/, we can read:
“Countering this scourge is in the interest of all nations and the issue has been on the agenda of the United Nations for decades.”
Now we can understand why 64 Poets from 43 different countries have written a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and to the Presidents of each of the countries whence they come from.
As stated in the letter to Mr Ban Ki-moon: “Through the poems, we, the poets, wish to express our unanimous desire for universal peace and to add our voice to those other unequivocal voices at the United Nations who say ‘NO’ to the scourge of terrorism”.
It is a symbolic gesture, but it highlights their commitment as “Poets against Terror“.
As Fabrizio Frosini, the publisher, says: “I started this editorial project after the murdering of so many innocents in Paris, on November 13, 2015, as a tribute to them and to the countless other victims of terror, worldwide. I started the project, but it is a collective book: a compilation of poems written by 64 poets from 43 different countries from all over the world, who believe in peace and brotherhood, and are against any kind of violence —against any kind of terror.”
Some other voices of the Poets:
— This project is about compassion for the victims of terrorism, it’s a celebration of a simple equation: ‘violence = more violence ; peace = peace’. We have made it clear, we are not debating causes, but mourning a particular ‘effect’ which is the intentional murder of innocents.
(Daniel Brick, USA)
— As someone born in Sri Lanka, a country that will always be remembered as the birth place of the suicide bombing, I can only offer my own tears to lessen the pain and to heal from this terrible plague and my own sweat to lay one brick to build a universal home for peace.
(Dilantha Gunawardana, Sri Lanka)
— Наши потери мучительны, но террор – это инструмент манипуляции через запугивание, поэтому нам следует искать истинные причины, а не реагировать слепо. Галина Итальянская.
Our losses are painful, but terror is a tool of manipulation via frightening, so we should search for the true reasons and not react blindly.
(Galina Italyanskaya, Росси́я – Russia)
— The most difficult aspect to accept about all the senseless violence in the world is the fact that we are doing this to each other, and that by now negative political, religious and social dynamics have become so complex that it is hard to believe in a better future. Therefore, each person must begin with him- or herself in contributing peace and non-violent solutions to our shared humanity.
(Birgit Linder, Germany)
— “Iwe neni tikabatana, nyika inobudirira” (in Shona language)
You are because I am, together we can make the world a better place
(Tapera Makadho, Zimbabwe)
— “Jag sörjer och stödjer med all min vänlighet ,med tanken på alla oskyldiga offer och anhöriga,och tyst gråtande hjärtan,min tro bygger på ett liv utan grymhet, och ord som vågar uttrycka solidaritet.”
I gave rise to much kindness, I think of all the people and children and the hearts of silence cry, I admit a new faith without cruel life, how to find words how dare to dare.
(Istvan Molnar, Sverige – Sweden)
— What is gained from the killing of children, people shopping for food, those just passing by?
(Lawrence Beck, USA)
— The dead body of the 3-year-old on the beach will haunt humanity forever, if we can’t put an end to terrorism!
(Afrooz Jafarinoor, Iran)
—”Avec un bout de papier et une plume On est capable de faire face au terrorisme et emmètre un rayon de bonheur, espoir et paix autour de nous et partout dans le monde.“
We use a pen and a paper to face Terror and to spread Peace and Love all over the world
(Khaoula Basty, Tunisia)
__________________________________________________
64 Poets from 43 different Countries have joined this project, and I wish to say “thank you” to each of them. The countries, counting both each poet’s home country and the ones where some of the poets currently live, are:
Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, UAE, Uganda, UK, USA, Zimbabwe.
My Heart is in Torment- ز سوریه و فلسطین؛عراق تا به یمان (Persian)
The Original English version can be read in the Anthology of POETRY AGAINST TERROR
Im Zug von Birgit Bunzel Linder
Der Zug gleitet an Herbstfeldern und welkenden Gärten vorbei,
über Flüsse und Straβen, Designs menschlicher Absicht.
Er fährt an Friedhöfen vorbei, wo Reihe hinter Reihe
Leben ruhen unter gravierten Marmortafeln.
“Warum traurig sein, wenn es unser Leben nicht verlängert?”
flüstert ein Mystiker, als ich meine Augen schließe.
Doch das schnelle Rattern der Räder wird plötzlich
zu fernen Kriegen, die hastig auf mich zueilen.
Das weiche Wiegen des Wagons wird
zum langsamen Sinken von Flüchtlingsschiffen.
Als der Zug hält und in der Nähe ein Autoreifen platzt,
Zeigt sich Panik in den Augen, die von den Nachrichten ermüdet sind.
Der Terror multipliziert sich, Schlag um Schlag. Die Geschichte wiederholt sich.
Wie ein Dieb kommt sie, stiehlt Grenzenideologien.
Du hast dich an Schwätzer des Wahnsinns gewandt, die zu dir sagten:
“Trage Gürtel eingraviert mit dem Wort Retour!”
“Falle in Ländern der Unglaublichkeit!”
Ich weiß nicht mehr, wie wir das Feld finden können,
das jenseits von Richtig und Falsch liegt.
Aber ich weiß, daβ niemand vorzeitig in Frieden ruhen soll.
Birgit Bunzel Linder
Arabic Translation
مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا
في القطار١
شعر: بيرجيت ليندر
يمضي القطارُ مارًا بحقول الخريفِ والحدائق الذاوية.
يعبر الأنهارَ والطرقَ السريعة وتصاميمَ لأغراض بشرية.
يمرُّ بمقابرَ محليةٍ حيث الأرواحُ
ترتاحُ في صفوفٍ تحت شواهد قبورٍ رخامية منقوشة.
“لماذا نفكرُ في الحزن وهو لا يضيف شيئا إلى أعمارِنا؟”٢
هكذا يهمسُ أحدُ الصوفيين حين أغمضُ عينيّ.
لكنَّ الهديرَ السريعَ للقضبانِ فجأة يصبحُ
حروبا بعيدة تقتربُ مني بسرعة.
التمايلُ الخفيفُ للعربةِ يصبحُ
غرقا بطيئاً لسفن اللاجئين.
حين يبطئ القطارُ وينفجرُ إطارُ سيارةٍ قريبة،
يملأ الذعرُ العيونَ التي سئمتْ الأخبار.
يتضاعفُ الرعبُ على الإيقاع. التاريخ يعيد نفسه.
يأتي مثلَ لصٍّ، ويسرقُ أيديولوجيات على الحدود،
التفتَ إلى واشٍ بالأوهام قد قال لك:
“إلبس حزامًا منقوشٌ عليه (يردُّ إلى الراسل!)”
“إذهبْ واسقطْ في أرض الكفر.”
لمْ أعدْ أعرفُ أينَ أجدُ الحقلَ الذي يقعُ فيما وراء
أفكارِ الشرِّ والخير.
لكني أعرفُ أنَّ ليسَ على أحدٍ أنْ يرقدَ في سلامٍ قبل وقته.
١ ترجمها إلى العربية سيد جودة
٢ البيت مقتبس من قصيدة لجلال الدين الرومي
On the Train
The train glides past autumn fields and withering gardens.
It crosses rivers and highways, designs for human purpose.
It rides past local graveyards, where row after row,
lives rest under engraved marble stones.
……………..
The Original English version can be read in the Anthology of POETRY AGAINST TERROR
Note: This poem is about physical and psychological terror that comes to us through various forms of disbelief, be they religious, political or ethical.
The most difficult aspect to accept about all the senseless violence in the world is the fact that we are doing this to each other, and that by now negative political, religious and social dynamics have become so complex that it is hard to believe in a better future. Therefore, each person must begin with him- or herself in contributing peace and non-violent solutions to our shared humanity.
I was born in 1962 as the ninth and last child of a blue collar family in Oberhausen, a coal mining town in Germany. I left Germany in 1990 to get my PhD degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I also lived in Taiwan and China, and now in Hong Kong. I hold degrees in Sinology, Dutch Literature, Political Science, Modern Chinese Literature, and German Literature. I am professor of Chinese and Comparative Literary Studies at the City University of Hong Kong, and my research and writing concerns the areas of literary madness, Medical Humanities, Gothic literature, and German literature. I have previously published poetry and photography in Asian Cha, the International Literature Quarterly, Cerebration, Kavya Bharati, Clockwise Cat, and Mad Poets Review, and other Chinese journals. My other interests include reading, writing, Chinese ink and watercolor painting, and photography. In 2013 I won the Proverse International Prize for Poetry for my poetry collection Shadows in Deferment.
poetryagainst
Poetry Against Terror 
Recent Comments