Vox Populi
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Majid Naficy: Escape to Lesbos
In Ma’arra*, the poet Abul ‘Ala*
Was called a death-worthy infidel
And a thousand years after his death
His statue was beheaded.
.
I witnessed this destruction
And knew it was not a safe place.
So I fled to Turkey
And along with Syrian refugees
Sailed from Izmir to Lesbos
Where the poet Sappho
Spoke of love.
.
Now I am in a camp of refugees
With a number on my chest
And a sandwich in my hand.
Oh, black clouds
Passing borders fearlessly
I am neither Odysseus who returns home
Nor Aeneas who makes a homeland in exile.
I have escaped death
And want to remain alive
Like Abul ‘Ala
Who survived through his poetry.
.
— September 20, 2015
*- A town in Syria.
*- Abul ‘Ala Ma’arri (973-1057) A freethinker, blind Arab poet.
Copyright 2023 Majid Naficy
Majid Naficy is the author of many books in Persian and in English, including Father & Son (Red Hen 2003). He lives in Los Angeles, California.
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More and more statues of freethinkers will be beheaded post-humously (if those terrible ‘liberals’ live until statue can be made). They may well be beheaded before they get to be one. It’s beginning to be a global phenomenon. How the virus of intolerance has spread so quickly.
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I know. Scary, isn’t it?
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“Oh, black clouds
Passing borders fearlessly” If only people could do this fearlessly….
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Great image, isn’t it?
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Majid Naficy is brand new to me.
What a powerful amazing poem. He and his life and voice are in my prayers.
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