# 494: Guilt
Lebanon Poetry
Guilt rules history
80 years
So much horror
So much death
Do humans learn?
Wounded hearts
Cannot love
Where is God?
Believers ask
Non-believers blame
A man with plastic bags
“My children are in there,
What is left of them.”
No rules anymore
“We are used to this.”
What a lesson.
“What does not kill you
Makes you strong”
True and terrible.
Wounds stay for generations
Bloody inheritance
An eye for an eye
Leaving or staying?
Luxurious questions
Your passport tells the story
Of who you are
Of who you can be
Of where to flee
Of life and death
Watching the news?
Too hard to do
What can be done?
Just moving on?
One day at a time
No words for this
Parents born in war
Grandparents lost in war
Children carry the burden
Of sadness and grief
Who was it?
Who shot the rocket?
Who is guilty of this?
Does it matter?
A picture in my room
A child without future
Empty eyes and dusty clothes
My reminder of worlds
The “West” does not see
Looking away is a sport
Numbing feelings takes practice
“We did not know”
Total surprise!
Keeping people in prison
Making mothers starve
The right to exist
A question of politics?
Of the church?
Or of common sense?
Hatred does not stop
If the hater gets killed
Every drop of blood
Finds its martyrs
Born somewhere
Dying somewhere else
In-between a life
That was never safe
“Mama, do you have time?”
“I have to work,
Later, my dear”
What does guilt mean
In our own lives?
Is there anything
We can learn from this?
Or shall we just jump
Into the grave today?
Hope is a nice word
For prayers and talks
On some days
It does not do the trick
Saving the world
Is a wonderful cause
To live for the world
And bury the self.
Sudden death teaches you
How much you can love
And it reminds you of the days
When you sealed your heart
Too busy were you
Working for the future
When the bombs drop
And the siren howls
You realize at once
That the future is the past
And your dreams all gone
Get up now
And ask your heart
Is there one thing today
That can give me joy?
“How can that be,
you crazy fool?
A day of grief,
And you seek fun?”
Guilt has many faces
That make us feel small.
Often we forget
That shame stays long.
Whatever it is
That you learn from this
Nobody can judge
Your inner choice
Your life has value
And nothing was in vain
Not a single moment
Of your efforts lost
Go to the mirror
And look at your face
Do you see the light
Between the tears?
Do you see the wrinkles
Your laughter left?
Your life is right here
In this sad moment
It is in your hand
To keep walking
There might be more tears
That you stored for ages
There might be more things
That could be done
This terror in the world
Will not be stopped by you
But your light will keep shining
For the ones around
If you heal the wounds
Of your own heart
You plant the seed
For love to win
over cruelty and hatred
over bloodshed and greed
The old man on the bench
Starring into the unknown.
“I did not want to live
To see this again.”
He takes my hand
And looks me in the eye
“Young lady, listen,
Walk your own path,
And never forget
What is important in life.”
Dear leaders of the world,
You have failed.
We have failed,
To learn from the past.
Put your rulers
And maps
your pens
and compasses
In a big box
and lock it forever
Stop dividing the world
Like a piece of cake
You are more than full
And fat already
With all the sins committed
People are not pawns
And politics is not chess
You will learn this lesson
When your hour has come
Then you will die in darkness
With only guilt in your heart
May the Gods of this world
Help those who pray and mourn
And may those in power
Have the courage to risk
Their egos and interests
Their plans and promises.
The time is now
To use your power
To do what it takes
To prevent more misery
The past is past
And guilt is not a good advisor
If you want to show
What responsibility means
Open your eyes
To the here and now
Forget the labels
Of friends and enemies
Tear down the walls
Of broken souls
In 80 years from now
Your grandchildren can say
We live in a world
Without war and guilt.
The time is now
To make that decision.
If you need time to think
You have not understood
What is written here.
Words are weapons
To touch the heart
Ease the pain
awaken your spirit
And change your path.
Guilt is not a currency
That pays for change.
Your courage has the power
To frame history
In a new way
“I have a dream
That one day…”
Oh, what a shame
We messed it up…
But as long as I live
I will never stop believing
That the day will come
when your dream comes true.