For : Ali Jabbar Attiyah 1 The letter has left me And retired in a corner. It could hardly bear The mountains of sadness Borne by the hands of my watch. It could hardly bear My crazy loneliness Nor my childhood that expanded And turned into an endless sea Nor my age which was nearly Fifty disasters old. The letter has retired in a corner Placed his head between his hands and cried. I also cried until my soul flowed. I returned it to my letter. My letter cried until its dot flowed. I returned it to Him ….to God. 2 Thus, I was destined To see my head borne by spears Like Al-Hussain’s head. To see my body ulcerate and die Like Job’s body. To carry on my back Prometheus Rock In order to exchange the madness of the homeland By the unknown madness And the Euphrates ash by the ash of the crippled rivers And the joy of the Tigris by the joy of the cloud With worn-out underwears. 3 It was a happy day. During which I fetched a loaf For my children, exiled far into dream Without setting fire to Baghdad Through Haulage wars Nor killing the disarmed simple people Through Tamer Lane wars Now plundering female slaves Through Genghis Khan's Wars Without Kneeling to the Pharaoh of the Age Without hoisting the Barbarians' flag Without interfering in the crippled towns' wars. A hot loaf I baked it in the dream of the good letter And in the heavenly dot whose stalk is stable And whose heart is in the sky. But the thieves were waiting for me: Pharaoh's thieves Haulage's thieves Tamer Lane's thieves Genghis Khan’s thieves The Barbarians’ thieves And the crippled towns’ thieves. They robbed me in the broad light Cut my hand and blinded my eye And stole my hot loaf. Tonight, what will I say to my children? Tonight, what will I say to my heart? Tonight, what will I say to my letter And my dot? **** *Al-Hussain is a grandson of Prophet Muhammad and a great Muslim imam and martyr.