“Cry my beloved country” by Rajar Mattar

Cry for my non-existent childhood
Cry for my stolen youth
Cry for my uprooted olive trees
Cry for my village which lost its name
Cry for the maimed children
Cry for the widowed mothers
And cry for the raped land.
A land I tended with my tears

Yes, cry, as I am crying
For non-caring kin
Yes, cry as I am crying
For non-caring humanity
Cry because I stopped crying
I have no more tears to spare
I need them for my children’s graves

My children have gone to war
They will not come back alive
They think their blood will bring back the olive trees
They think that their blood will wipe out the infamy
Of kin who did not raise a finger
Of humanity which did not utter a word
To protect my olive trees