{"id":2253,"date":"2007-08-05T23:39:23","date_gmt":"2007-08-06T04:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=2253"},"modified":"2007-08-24T21:17:43","modified_gmt":"2007-08-25T02:17:43","slug":"poems-from-guantanamo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=2253","title":{"rendered":"Poems from Guant\u00e1namo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Globe<\/strong><\/em>, 5 August 2007<\/a> | hat tip<\/a><\/p>\n

THE JUST-released “Poems from Guant\u00e1namo: The Detainees Speak” is a collection of 22 poems by 17 detainees at the US detention center at Guant\u00e1namo Bay. Edited by Marc Falkoff, each poem had to be cleared by the Pentagon. The result offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the prisoners. The following is an excerpt. <\/em><\/p>\n

Jumah Al Dossari<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jumah al Dossari, a 33-year-old Bahraini national, is the father of a young daughter. He has been held at Guant\u00e1namo Bay for more than five years. Detained without charge or trial, Dossari has been subjected to a range of physical and psychological abuses, some of which are detailed in “Inside the Wire,” an account of the Guant\u00e1namo prison by former military intelligence soldier Erik Saar. He has been held in solitary confinement since the end of 2003 and, according to the US military, has tried to kill himself 12 times while in the prison. On one occasion, he was found by his lawyer, hanging by his neck and bleeding from a gash to his arm.<\/p>\n

DEATH POEM <\/strong><\/p>\n

Take my blood.
\nTake my death shroud and
\nThe remnants of my body.
\nTake photographs of my corpse at the grave, lonely.
\nSend them to the world,
\nTo the judges and
\nTo the people of conscience,
\nSend them to the principled men and the fair-minded.
\nAnd let them bear the guilty burden, before the world,
\nOf this innocent soul.
\nLet them bear the burden, before their children and before history,
\nOf this wasted, sinless soul,
\nOf this soul which has suffered at the hands of the “protectors of peace.”<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sami Al Haj<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sami al Haj, a Sudanese national, was a journalist covering the conflict in Afghanistan for the television station al-Jazeera when, in 2001, he was taken into custody and stripped of his passport and press card. Handed over to US forces in January 2002, he was tortured at both Bagram air base and Kandahar before being transferred to Guant\u00e1namo Bay in June 2002. The US military alleges that he worked as a financial courier for Chechen rebels and that he assisted Al Qaeda and extremist figures, but has offered the public no evidence in support of these allegations. Haj remains at Guant\u00e1namo.<\/p>\n

HUMILIATED IN THE SHACKLES <\/strong><\/p>\n

When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,
\nHot tears covered my face.
\nWhen the lark chirped, my thoughts composed
\nA message for my son.
\nMohammad, I am afflicted.
\nIn my despair, I have no one but Allah for comfort.
\nThe oppressors are playing with me,
\nAs they move freely about the world.
\nThey ask me to spy on my countrymen,
\nClaiming it would be a good deed.
\nThey offer me money and land,
\nAnd freedom to go where I please.
\nTheir temptations seize my attention
\nLike lightning in the sky.
\nBut their gift is an evil snake,
\nCarry hypocrisy in its mouth like venom.
\nThey have monuments to liberty
\nAnd freedom of opinion, which is well and good.
\nBut I explained to them that
\nArchitecture is not justice.
\nAmerica, you ride on the backs of orphans,
\nAnd terrorize them daily.
\nBush, beware.
\nThe world recognizes an arrogant liar.
\nTo Allah I direct my grievance and my tears.
\nI am homesick and oppressed.
\nMohammad, do not forget me.
\nSupport the cause of your father, a God-fearing man.
\nI was humiliated in the shackles.
\nHow can I now compose verses? How can I now write?
\nAfter the shackles and the nights and the suffering and the tears,
\nHow can I write poetry?
\nMy soul is like a roiling sea, stirred by anguish,
\nViolent with passion.
\nI am a captive, but the crimes are my captors’.
\nI am overwhelmed with apprehension.
\nLord, unite me with my son Mohammad.
\nLord, grant success to the righteous. <\/em><\/p>\n

Osama Abu Kabir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Osama Abu Kabir is a Jordanian water truck driver who worked for the municipality of Greater Amman. After joining an Islamic missionary organization called Jama’at al-Tablighi, he traveled to Afghanistan, where he was detained by anti-Taliban forces and handed over to the US military. One of the justifications offered for his continued detention is that he was captured wearing a Casio digital watch, a brand supposedly favored by members of Al Qaeda because some models may be used as bomb detonators. Kabir remains at Guant\u00e1namo.<\/p>\n

IS IT TRUE? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is it true that the grass grows up again after the rain?
\nIs it true that the flowers will rise up in the spring?
\nIs it true that birds will migrate home again?
\nIs it true that the salmon swim back up their stream?
\nIt is true. This is true. These are all miracles.
\nBut is it true that one day we’ll leave Guant\u00e1namo Bay?
\nIs it true that one day we’ll go back to our homes?
\nI sail in my dreams, I am dreaming of homes.
\nTo be with my children, each one part of me;
\nTo be with my wife and the ones that I love;
\nTo be with my parents, my world’s tenderest hearts.
\nI dream to be home, to be free from this cage.
\nBut do you hear me, oh Judge, do you hear me at all?
\nWe are innocent, here, we’ve committed no crime.
\nSet me free, set us free, if anywhere still
\nJustice and compassion remain in this world!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Boston Globe, 5 August 2007 | hat tip THE JUST-released “Poems from Guant\u00e1namo: The Detainees Speak” is a collection of 22 poems by 17 detainees at the US detention center at Guant\u00e1namo Bay. Edited by Marc Falkoff, each poem … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdXTf-Al","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}