A War Poem - Is This Victory?

A War Poem - Is This Victory?

At last, the war came to an end
It’s the day to bury the dead today
Survivors gathered to bury us
In tiny graves dug closer to one another

Gone are the days we played hide and seek
In the shadows of Olive trees
Gone are the days we shared our meals
Without minding our casts our creeds
Magda Mariam Manaal Habeeb
Zainab Zachev Jafar Labeeb
Look how true is our friendship!
Even in death we’ve become one

“Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return…”
Drops of Holy Water we felt on our faces
Some whispered “La Illaha Illallah”
Amidst, from far away
Mighty voices keep falling onto our ears
“We’ve won, we’ve won the war…”
A victory in our death?
We stop to think for a while “Is this victory?”.

- Robert Fernandes, Udyavar, India

Note : This is self-traslated poem originally written in Konkani. I penned this poem after reading the sad news of mass burials of Lebanese children, which took place after a ceasefire between Lebanese (Nasrullah’s) Troups and Israeli Forces in 2006.

I believe it is very relevant to current situations in Gaza, Palestine.