Martyrs Of The Uprising

Translated by Stephen Watts and Marga Burgui-Artajo

Those who
were heaped in piles
before the tanks of the Guard,
those who so often dreamed of land
and then flew off with white wings
those whose tombstones fertilised
cacti of oblivion
those whose stories were eroded
piece by piece ...
In the city's tumult
see how they look, their astonished
eyes, & our ability to forget them
so absolutely

Baghdad 1992