Tatul Sonentz: Deir Ezzor…

 

               

In this desert

where nothing grew

but silence

disturbed only

by the wind that shifted

the sands of time

and the dunes of eternity

whose gaping gates

then opened wide

to receive the remains

of those who had witnessed

the very dawn

and the redemption

of humanity…

 

In this desert

where the sun bleaches

the very soul of all things

alive with the breath

of life and will of God

walked the skeletons

of those who used to be

man woman and child

father mother sister and son

now an endless spread

of human carrion

an infernal feast

for vulture and jackal

and manlike beast…

 

In this desert

far from the highlands

the ancient seed of Haik

was burned as incense

to the glory of Bel and Cain

who slew Abel and fled Eden

to plant and grow blades of sin

in the blood soaked

soil of the east

birthplace of a sun

now heading ever west

in its futile journey

in quest of a place to rest…

 

In this desert

there are no cranes

soaring serene above a land

whose tillers have been mowed

felled by the scythe

of hatred and greed

of crimson dreams of empire

like a rising tide

flowing red from east to west

and back to a mythical east

of Ergenekon

foaming with fury

in a savage rampage

to a final conquest and lasting glory

of the crescent moon

reflected in a sea of blood

flowing from sacked highlands

covered with gore

and scorched fields

to the searing sands of this place…

 

This desert

Where no crane on the wing

ever hovered over a dune

to answer the strangled call

and silenced quest

of news from the quick

and the dead

whose bleached bones

now call for loving hands

to touch them

with the promise of a place

of eternal rest…

 

 

---------------------Tatul Sonentz

April 24, 1995