beyond tahreer…

there waits history’s emotionless scribe

pen poised to record the moment of a peoples’ collective yearning

jotting down furiously the unfolding of a revolution

as hearts are inflamed with the passion for freedom intensely burning

a passion burning with the simplest wish of all, the dream of taking charge of one’s destiny

igniting the multitudes elsewhere, with its beacon of hope and of light

as the battles in maidan-e-tahreer rage deep into the long egyptian night

and though the dictator is blinded by the shimmering mirage of absolute control

his vision is marred by his unbridled and abusive power, devoid of even a hint of a soul

and so beyond tahreer

is where the real battle may be fought

after the dictator’s inevitable departure

when the remaking of a society will be by the people sought

then as that cold and exacting scribe of history commits the momentous saga to scroll

the burden will fall on the people to mould their common dreams as a collective whole

for though this certainly is a battle for freedom

it is also a battle for bread and water and shelter and dignity

for all common women and men

and that is why

beyond tahreer

will true success or abject failure be committed to paper by history’s pen

for ‘freedom’ has been fought for and has been won in many a land this wide world around

but the true meaning of ‘freedom’ has yet to be anywhere in this wide world found

…freedom from grinding servitude, and the perpetual trampling of the poor by the rich

…freedom from the howls of hungry babies and beaten-down mothers with eyes that look at you and me, with none of us yet all of us to blame

…freedom from the endless inequalities that we accept each day, the very inequalities that should compel us all to bow our heads in shame

…freedom from the ever-tightening shackles of class and of caste and of race and of creed

…freedom from the inherited privilige of those inebriated by their unending repulsive greed

and so beyond tahreer…

may the battle begin for all of us anew

a battle that has been fought and lost countless times before

a battle fought endlessly, over and over and over again

for beyond tahreer
lies that ever elusive but always possible new world
where all people reclaim their true freedoms
and when equal dignity all of the people regain
beyond tahreer

…the struggle continues