Naivety

 Translation by Nancy A. Coffin, USA

Whenever a dictator falls
from history's throne, studded with our tears
My palms burn from applause.
But as soon as I return home
And switch on the television,
Another dictator spews out
Of the mouths of the crowds, inflamed by whistles and cheers
...Drowning in laughter
At my naivety,
My eyes burn with tears.

Baghdad, 29 June, 1992
Garden of the Association of Historians

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From the collection, "Under a Strange Sky" - 1994, London