Dedicated to the 140 dead and more than 500 wounded victims of the funeral bombing in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, on  October 10, 2016 / 08 Muharram, 1438, and all victims of oppression worldwide

The night is plunged in darkness
Broody, deep and starless
Muharram blackness streaked
By the crescent’s teary gleam

Silent stillness suddenly pierced
By bloodcurdling grief
Crying children, tripping as they flee
Tongues of fire, to find missing family

Bodies of the bereaved who came to mourn
At a loved one’s funeral that became their own
Charred black and still, save blood and tears that flow
From blank eyes that weep no more

As I see mangled bodies lying limp,
Children weeping over torn limbs,
I recall the crying children of Karbala
The brutality and death of Ashura

In Yemen, Karbala finds a pale shadow
Something of its strength amidst sorrow
Within souls anguished yet bright,
Infused with faith’s resilience and light

Bombed, starved and besieged,
Yet unbowed before the Saudi regime
Terrorised but not demoralised
By the murderous shells of Western allies

Through media webs of spin and lies,
I see the oppressors and tyrannised
Yemen, Palestine, Nigeria, Pakistan, all intertwined
Battlefields of savagery and sacrifice

And so, as I weep for Husayn, I weep for all oppressed
I pray and wail and lament
Yet having wept, is my love spent,
Enabling me by Muharram’s end,
To move on with my life, theirs forget?

Do my tears merely cool my own distress,
Dousing the concern within myself?
Or do they smoulder and ignite,
A burning love that acts, defends, selflessly strives?!

Every drop of innocent blood spilled,
Every war-child’s eye, tear-filled,
Echoes silently, Husayn’s final plea,
Strive for justice, set the truth free!

How many Yemenis will I see burned and massacred,
Shrouded in shrapnel, ash and blood,
Before I rise with all my being and soul,

To answer Husayn’s eternal call?

Fatema Valji © 2016