a stone for a pillow

A Mirror for the Twentieth Century

A coffin that wears the face of a child,
a book
written inside the guts of a crow,
a beast trudging forward, holding a flower,
a stone
breathing inside the lungs of a madman.
This is it.
This is the twentieth century.

A Prophecy

To the country dug into our lives like a grave,
to the country etherized, and killed,
a sun rises from our paralyzed history
into our millennial sleep.

A sun without a prayer
that kills the sand’s longevity, and the locusts
and time bursting out of the hills,
and time drying out on the hills
like fungus.

A sun that loves maiming and murder,
that rises from there, behind that bridge…

Both poems written by Adonis.

A Stone for a Pillow

At dusk

the day kisses me good night

and beneath the sands of time

a stone for a pillow she finds

to fall asleep.

With only darkness left

wild dreams spin around above the world

but a ladder of hope rises up into the skies

where she meets

the dawn of a new chapter  

for our lives.

Generally, September carries dark notations, especially for Europeans. This has to do with the start of autumn and the realization that another warm, sunny season is over. The trees begin their own shedding process and leaves change colours as if they were being painted by angels. Eventually, the wind sweeps them off their branches and they fall upon the earth. This fall is significant…why else would the alternative name for autumn be FALL?

Each season has its ups and downs - an old cliché. Yet this September we are drawn back to the reality that change always comes at a high cost. And more than often, change is accompanied by a drop…or rather drops of blood…and a fall…a decline…a painful rejuvenation process that takes its toll.

This month, attention has been drawn towards the Arab world once again. And once again, the Western world does not receive a well-balanced perspective on why things are spiraling out of control. Indeed, one may ask why days that began with hope face nights with bloodshed and other aggressions.   

The above poems by the great Syrian poet Adonis reflect the faint pessimism embedded in a people who are going through a process similar to that of the autumn leaves. And it comes without saying that any revolution in the books of history faced similar trials and tribulations. Hence one could even call it ‘The Mirror of the Twenty First Century’. A revolution can only succeed if there are leaders willing to take responsibility and people, who are willing to place their faith in that leadership and collectively believe in the same values and ideals.

I stumbled upon an article by Fouad Ajami, Senior Fellow at Stanford University, in which he attempts to explain “why the Arab world is so easily offended”. In it, he reminds the reader of the proud Arab history…the momentous contributions that the Arab people made to the world...and how, after many centuries of cultural domination, they were overcome by the relentless Western colonialism.

He writes:

“In the narrative of history transmitted to schoolchildren throughout the Arab world and reinforced by the media, religious scholars and laymen alike, Arabs were favored by divine providence. They had come out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, carrying Islam from Morocco to faraway Indonesia. In the process, they overran the Byzantine and Persian empires, then crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Iberia, and there they fashioned a brilliant civilization that stood as a rebuke to the intolerance of the European states to the north. Cordoba and Granada were adorned and exalted in the Arab imagination. Andalusia brought together all that the Arabs favored — poetry, glamorous courts, philosophers who debated the great issues of the day.”

Personally, I know little of the Arab world and I do not profess to be an expert. Nonetheless, I find it fascinating how the Western world, after an entire century filled with wars and radical technological, historical, and scientific advancement, still acts like the Great Inquisitor with the mind-set of a crusader. There is no way to justify what is going on in the Arab world at the moment, but one cannot just sit and let things pass you by. One must question the process of revolution and how it can be successfully carried out…and then establish a structure in which people are treated with their God-given human rights.

Too many times, I fear, we forget that the ordinary person is at the mercy of the big boys’ gambling table. Diplomats put on a poker face hoping that the other won’t call their bluff.  Gaining the trust of the people is something every leader has to go through. Nowadays it is difficult to tell whether the person is genuine and will follow through on his/her promises. The revolution ultimately comes down to the people and their vision. In the Arab world, this is a highly strenuous task, due to the tribal and religious background. Not all Arabs are Muslims. Vice versa, not all Muslims are Arabs. And when one does a little research one will find out that, despite what Muslims may or may not believe, there is a profound truth which stands out: The prophet Mohammed united a divided people and led them away from idol worship towards believing in one God.

In that sense, there was once a great Arab revolution. And I believe people everywhere in the world often place their hopes into the wrong hands. We must be careful who we share our dreams with. At the end of the day, any of us can begin a revolution. That isn’t the point! The start of something is useless without an ending which makes it all worthwhile. We have got to remember that there is always a lengthy process involved and one must be adequately prepared. One has to be in it for the long haul.

The leaves they fall. They are covered by snow. They decompose. With the first sunlight, the spirit of the past returns and with it, the trees bloom again and beauty lives on.

Nature can be the blue-print of the present and the future. And we can only pray for a better present and future for those who have the guts to stand up for their rights…and fight for the freedom they deserve.