Downtown. Lions Poem by Mohammad Younus

After a fierce crackdown and ding-dong battle,
I happened to pass through the downtown,
The silence of the town sent shiver down my bones,
As if I was walking alone on a dark winter night,
Through packs of sniffer dogs and prowling blood hounds,
The atmosphere was filled with...
...the thick, dark, pungent smoke of teargas shells,
That squeezed painful tears out of the eyes of it's residents,
Yellow pallor on their faces gave them a jaundiced look,
As I glanced at the houses in the winding alleys,
With blood spattered on their walls,
I visioned the shadows of ghosts...
...on the streets of this ghost town,
As if all its native population were dead...
...or had migrated to safer zones,
As if my old town had gathered dust over ages,
The empty balconies of the houses...
...were singing the song of sadness,
But, don't imagine they are frightened,
Don't assume they have called off their resistance,
You are wrong, if you think so,
No, they are locked-up lions in their locked-up land,
They are seething with fire in their hearts,
I saw children standing on the rubble of houses,
Playing a ding dong battle with the heavily armed soldiers,
I saw young boys climbing on minarets...
...and on green-roofed mausoleums,
To call out the people from indoors to assemble,
In the market square in front of the Grand Mosque,
To protest against the atrocities after Jumma prayers,
The town is shrouded in grief...
...but you can still see its new generation...
...planning in silence, determined to repair the cracks,
And you think they are broken, but you're wrong!
They're on fire!

Mykoul