Our doomed leaders

Choman Hardi, 4 November 2004

Subjects:

Amid the boom of victory, a quiet word from Kurdish poet, Choman Hardi.

About the author

Choman Hardi is a poet and painter. She was the chair of Exiled Writers' Ink, a community of established refugee writers who write in English and other languages.

Our doomed leaders

Recalling the promised springs
in this cold winter, the curse rises to my lips –

Ba le dozexda bisute ewey dengi emey sutand.
Ba le mihnetda bigawze ewey chawi emey frand.

He in whom we had hope stuffed our vision in his bag,
the vivid colours of our world slipped into his deep pockets.

He in whom we had hope took our voice with him
and marched towards the future.

He had promised to bring new colours to our land.

Unknown to us
the blueness of water said goodbye to him
the sparrows framed him with their song
the butterflies of death flew around his head.

Jahangir and Shah Jahan
Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor, weighs his son Prince Khurram (the future Shah Jahan) in gold and silver (detail). From Tuzuk-i Jahangiri (Memoirs of Jahangir), c. 1615

‘Our doomed leaders’ is from Life For Us, published by Bloodaxe Books, 2004

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