Utter These Words,

Utter these words to the soldier who stands,
arms and head against living tree,
letting out the humanity he could no longer stifle in the form of tears and sobs heavy enough to leave his shoulders heaving and his hands
-the same hands that cradled the AK-47 he held onto like life-
 trembling.
But life had long escaped him.

Utter these words to the child rocking back and forth -what we know as tornado-drill position:
 knees against chest, head between knees,
hair drenched in sweat and eyes puffy with despair
and that sick emptiness that comes with losing what you thought was everything sticking against his entire being like the air was sewn into Velcro…
calling out “Ummi, ummi.”

Utter these words to the daughter
who once dreamt of white taffeta and lace dresses, velvet wedding flowers, and the lights that would sparkle as she danced the night away
And who once prayed to love and be loved with the one man she believed was written for her every time she bowed down to her Lord.
…who now sits on her blanket as the rest of her family sleeps, violently wiping away the tears that brought back memories of men- no, animalistic monsters- who would not even regard her as human.
The memories that would not even allow her to revel in the hope and significance of her dignity.
No longer trusting any man, walking around, her heart crippled in a cage of confusion asking everyday why it still beat for her?

Utter these words to the revolutionary, armed to defend what time had oppressed, yet bending down
-even in the wake of death and torture worse than death itself-
bending to embrace the cat that continues to walk around; blameless- managing to still carry the capacity for tenderness, mercy and love.
And then again, bending, kneeling, bowing, falling, that same hour to pray to The Only One there for him.
Still holding on -with all that he does not have to lose- to the faith and freedom he fights for.

Utter these words to the mother who gently rocks her baby from his white sheets,
beckoning him to wake and greet her with that unworldly and purely newborn smile,
Her own smile of denial shining through the tears that would not stop loitering on her fighting face-
Madness.
Not willing to accept the fact that the baby would not wake,
for its sleep was now infinite.

Utter these words to them and ask
if they mean anything.

Dear Silence,

Oh silence,

Shout your worries for an instance

Allow me to hear the melody of your voice

Give me a taste of truth’s song.

My ears have only heard strangeness:

[The tick-tocking of man-made clocks, iron wired boxes… the slowly shriveling lie of Never-Ending we stuff into our mouths so that we may never be hungry]

...And my ears long for your reality

Tell me of your consciousness

Whisper into the beating heart between my ribs the lullabies I've held in confinement for eternity

I no longer want to feel as though I am a silhouette of moving lips and no sound sinking into shadow

Oh air; air that hovers around me,

Tell me, can I feel the waves of my words travel through you? Can I feel their echoes dance around the charges of my fingers? Can I prove the presence of my thoughts to the mortals like me?

Oh earth that I tread, does your sand blow as I walk in response to my pleas?

Oh sky, does the moon truly follow the wanderings of my soul? And does the sun really shine to greet my waking?

Dear Silence, your presence has been an obstruction. Show me your sincerity and allow your screams to travel past my lips and penetrate the existences of every other Silence that lives within us.

The beating heart will wither and the imprint of your lips on it will soon fade into nothingness as well. So, rather, I plead… do not merely mark your fingers with the crimson of blood.

…Oh silence, touch souls.

A solace amidst the madness of massacre.

This is for the mothers

Who have had to witness their screaming, bleeding babies ripped out of their very hands

This is for the fathers

Who have had to live through the pain of trying to protect a family from something they cannot control

This is for the husbands

Who have been made to put up with the torture of seeing their own wives brutally raped

This is for the wives

Who have been beaten,

used as virtual war toys

This is for the children

Who have to put up with the psychological want for power, our corruption.

Who have to be the victim of every atrocity they were never involved in

This is for the children who still manage to smile through the rubble

Clearing the dust that may have blocked the sun and just letting the hope

filter in

For the children who’ve been forced into adulthood before adolescence

This is for the youth

Who have left everything

To fight, to put up with the torture, the death, the depression,

Who have willingly set themselves up to be killed- or worse: “taken in” - just so that they may proclaim

“7urriyya.”

This is for the bystanders

Those who know of the massacres but can find absolutely nothing to do but pray

And prayer is our greatest weapon

This is for humanity

That little beating voice that insists, “Do not hush my freedom”

That massive jolt of inspiration

Through blood, sweat, and tears

Towards justice.

This is hope talking

Hope is speaking to you.

Hope has not yet abandoned you.

Justice will be served

I swear by God, The Avenger, that justice will be served

And that the good in people will remain in the people

And for the people

No matter what the sadistic ones have tried

Humanity cannot be cleansed out of us

It will linger

It might falter.

But it is there

And through the deafening bombs

Through the supposed “war” tactics

Through the newborn babies crying from the pain induced by shrapnel

God’s Name is etched in every plan

There will be a day when we all step forth

And every innocent will be rewarded their sum

And every oppressor will be cast away to rot in the depths of hell for what he thought would go unnoticed

Hold onto that

And remember,

remember 

not to let the bitterness of this world drag you down into the depths of numbness

rather let it motivate you.

Know that it is when you take everything away from the people that they become most powerful

When they have nothing to lose but their dignity and freedom

they will fight 

We have the power of Allahu Akbar.

God is our witness

And by God, there is nothing we need more than that

Freedom is imminent.

 Yes, God willing.

It's all sinking in.

         .....Freedom       is inevitable.