By: Mohamed Shaltami*
My friends…
Before the shadows of the mirage
Foliates as a magic oasis in each door in my heart
And the love for truth sealed its locks before me
Don’t pass by
And steadfast
It is he that breathes life into the graves
Turning darkness into light
And chants to millions of paupers
To revolt
And his letters destroyed the cave and tyrants of the age.
My friends…
A thousand years might pass upon us
Without a field, a house or spring
We might be unable
In the ages of death and humiliation for all to step over
That impenetrable dam
And the comrade’s feet might be shackled
With the gold of the world
And the god of death
Came like a blaze
Don’t pass by,
The road is a square full of thousands of corpses
And lies and thousands of promises
And money is their demise.
________
* 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.
** picture from Wikipedia.
