The War, our enduring mate.
(Since I was just five, the question at my core is why we do need war).
Three times I had fled from war, was it my bad or good luck that I had?
Or must I quiver, the fourth time always comes in my dreams.
In the depths of my soul, some sort of unknown fear.
Who knows of war as I, an early seer,
I've named the martyrs in heaven's sphere.
And witnessed those who sent them there,
greenish Innocence vs. heavy-armed truths.
Early at primary school,
I had learned of legion names,
historical leaders, and the smell of soldiers, and war's bitter lore.
Dark and profane.
I grasped each secret and hid it deeply in my memory graves.
In the classroom, they taught us to be rude,
Packed us with songs, to fight and explore.
"Eat your enemy's heart," they'd sing with pride,
Then wipe your mouth with hate.
In shiny helmets, they have hardly canned our raw heads,
We were smeared by soot on white school shirts,
When my seventh moon rose in the sky,
Flaming moons rained from on high.
Death blooms among children's eyes, With war's cruel birth, how many kids have to die?
Metal clouds rain down fire, an infernal joy.
Water, like fire, upon lips it sears.
Who's more fearful than a child in bed,
bombed and bombed, red shadows spread in his soft head?
On the playground, soldiers, their final stance,
Prepared for departure, a sorrowful dance. © Yaseen Ghaleb
Yaseen Ghaleb is a multi-lingual writer and poet, currently residing in Helsinki, Finland. A graduate of English Arts from the University of Basrah, Iraq, he has honed his skills as a prose and poetry writer and has a strong interest in dramatic writing.
Ghaleb has a number of literary works under his belt, including the novel "15+", published in Cairo in 2020 and the Arabic poetry collection "Baghdad Throne", released in Beirut, 2021. He has also published the work, "Al Majeda: Reminding the wife of the Iraqi President" in Sweden, 2021, and a collection of poems in English and Finnish entitled "Stigma", published by Enstone in Helsinki, 2021. In addition to his published works, Ghaleb regularly contributes his poems to the Finnish literary magazine, "Elias." He is a member of several literary and artistic organizations, including: 'Kirjailija - ja taiteilijayhdistys Kiila ry", "Uudenmaan Kirjoittajat ry," "Sivuvalo Platform ry", "Suomenpen ry", "Teksti ry", "Nuoren Voiman Liitto ry", and "Exiled Writers (UK).
Ghaleb is also a member of the poetry society "Runoyhdistys Nihil Interit ry".