photo credit: Caridad Svich
WAR SONG by Caridad Svich
(September 2, 2010)
This is how we sing
In the cool of the mountains
Drained by the sun
Spent from work
We rise
This is how we bleed
In the thick of the valleys
stained by the moon
Bent from work
We rise
Desert felled
In an ocean’s swell
We carry our histories on our backs
The weight of memory in our skins
We do not surrender
We rise
And we pray
Another day
Escapes our breath
Another day
Revives our deaths
So little they are
When compared to many
I want to see the blessed chill
Of anguished smiles
When I walk again
And walk some more
Along the long white hallway
til heaven’s door
Again is he?
Again is she?
Oh bitter earth
What crime is this
when desert sons
And desert winds
Cannot promise
ripe deliverance?
The sorrow sung
In ancient glow
Arrives tonight
In peace, although
One never knows
Who answers still
The siren’s call
Of war below
Always son
Always daughter
Roaming in fever’s den
Surrounded by lions’ cries
And slaughtered infants
At mother’s sides
We call it peace
A talk, a meet,
A wish to quell
The shame of defeat
But could we mark
A better song
Upon this earth
If guards are let
To bury mirth
In bitter cups
Of blissful shame?
Think now
Oh sons
Think now
Oh daughters
This cry
Held long
For all our martyrs.