Dictators come and go

Forget the dictators and the selfish 
And the thousands like them 
They come, they burn everything, they leave 
They shatter pens 
Burn poets and their works 
They hang them and imprison them.

They shoot Lorca 
Break musical instruments. 
But we must write and sing 
Love, freedom, justice 
And equality 
The world of peace without bombs 
Missiles or prisons. 
Dictators show the world 
That in the future there are no children, no parents 
Parents wait in vain for the return 
Of their child from the battlefields. 
I swear on the mass graves of all the dead 
I swear on the ashes left behind by all the holocausts. 
On all the women who clashed over injustices 
On the tired hands of workmen 
On the holy fathers who are ashamed 
To tell their children they can’t enjoy 
A friend, a childish game 
Children are deprived, they work, they beg 
I swear on all the burnt libraries 
On all the cells of injustice I swear on mankind, on the violence of mankind And of men 
Until the last tree on earth 
Love, justice, freedom, equality 
Perhaps one day, verses and music 
Will replace simplicity 
When children will only play with toys 
That is a day of hope 
The hope of tomorrow’s world.

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This poem was originally published in the seventh issue of ‘Migratory Birds’. The seventh issue of ‘Migratory Birds’ was produced by the Network for Children’s Rights, and supported by UNICEF with funding by the European Commission — Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. This edition was further supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung– Office in Greece, funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation, and published in Greece’s Efsyn newspaper on March 31, 2018.

Sayed’s poem was published in the school magazine of the No2 Intercultural Senior High School at Elliniko, with the title “Without Borders”.

Our young poet has been inspired by the great Iranian poet Yaghma Goirouee.