By: Mohamed Shaltami*
Say what you like.
And write with the font of the crown what misery has carved in us,
And say, we are traitors, cowards
With hearts full of men’s dead endeavors
I fled,
And left my shoes behind me,
And left behind the bridge the voice of the killed east
Say what you like,
I am an infiltrator,
A traitor, barefoot, dragging behind him a new disgrace
Say what you want
But I will not die, ever
So you can mount my corpse to victory
No, I will not die…
________
* Mohamed Shaltami (1945- 2010) Benghazi-Libya: A renowned Libyan poet, his early works of poetry was published in 1960’s and became very popular among university students and political activists in Libya. He was imprisoned for his opinions and political activism during the late years of the monarchy era and again in the early years of the Libyan revolution. He has six collections of poetry.
