April 17, 2003
A Girl of Iraq
I
A war that should not be happening
is taking place in my backyard.
All I have known and loved the fire is consuming.
From my life I have to part.
My father was killed by the sky-fires this morning,
and mother has been crying for him all night:
"Allah, save us from the coming suffering!"
I'm sure He can make everything all right.
I wish I could understand why Daddy is gone,
why I cannot go to the market today,
what have my people done wrong,
so wrong that it brings forth this fire from the sky.
Mother says the fires belong to an enemy,
a frighteningly strong one who says it's for our freedom.
I want to go outside like before; I do want to be free,
but since Enemy sent his fires, I can do this very seldom.
II
The brightness awoke me tonight.
The ground shook deafeningly under me.
I can see fire; I want to leave in fast flight.
"Mommy! Is this what it is to be free?"
Why does no one answer?
Where is my dear mother?
Is she now with my father?
Have they both left their daughter?
Are they free, or am I?
The floor falls from beneath me.
"Allah, save my soul from this freedom's lie.
If this is it, I do not want to be free."
III
Darkness and silence surround me.
Enemy has freed my people, as only he can.
He said he wanted to make me free.
Well, now I'm dead. . . .I guess I am.
Copyright �2004 Surey Rodr�guez
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New York Times quotation of the day for Thursday, March 4, 2004:
"I was waiting for you to wash me. And look at what happened. Who will wash me now?"
MULKHIA DHAKHEL, preparing a daughter's body for burial after a bombing in Iraq.
New York Times quotation of the day for Thursday, March 22, 2004:
"Every child that has been lost represents the future of Iraq."
SAMIR SUMAITEY, Iraq's interior minister.
New York Times quotation of the day for Friday, July 16, 2004:
"I want to get out. I want my children to live in a peaceful place."
ZEINAB HEART, seeking a passport to leave Iraq.
