DEIR YASSIN

(This poem was written on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Deir Yassin Massacre by the Irgun Gang, led by the future Prime Minister of Israel Menecham Begin)

For fifty years

I have had these tears

As the night cries

For what has been

You cannot begin to realize

For fifty years

The cries bring forth more tears

For what he said

I will never forget

Tonight son I will tuck you in bed

For fifty years

I have waited in tears

For him to enter our door

If only for one minute

Wanting to see him once more

For fifty years

I have looked back with tears

Seeing him so brave

Defending Deir Yassin

Yet knowing he is in his grave

For fifty years

I wondered in tears

For what could have been

A town so magnificent

No more can it be seen

For fifty years

I have watched with tears

At our plight

Filled with much  misery

After we took flight

For fifty years

I look back with tears

1948 was a catastrophe

Our hopes were dashed

When will we be free

For fifty years

I cannot wipe away the tears

Seeing those bodies

In Sabra and Chatilla

Renewed all my animosities

For fifty years

I choked back tears

At that famous handshake

Where will it lead

Will it relieve my heartache

For fifty years

I welcomed the tears

As our leader stood on our soil

We are our government

But will it lead to no more toil

For fifty years

I am saddened with tears

At our complacency

Feeling the work is done

Yet only in its infancy

For fifty years

I am filled with fresh tears

Deir Yassin is only a breathe away

It lives in our memories

No matter what comes our way

For fifty years

I have longed for an end to those tears

For my father and his smile

Our battle has just begun

It encounters us with ever mile

For fifty years

I cannot shed these tears

The battle is within me

For I look to my son

To set us free


(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)