To My Dear Afghanistan
By Atefeh Jafari. Translated by Asadullah Jafari Pezhman
Even a mountain of pain cannot match your sorrow
Yes, laugh, but your wounds will not heal
Complain of your bitter days, my homeland
Never be afraid, the heavens will not be deaf
History has reviewed your elegy again
There are no tears for your lamentation
The world is clouded by your sad eyes
Kabul a mirror of dust again
My dear country, don’t forget Dehmazang Square*
Damn Dehmazang’s wounds and deaths on July 23
Along the way, lights burn the nights of Bamyan
Why do these stars go out?
There’s no cure for your pain
No spring for your autumn
Your tears rise from the mighty Amu River
Still, you bend on your knees in the uprising
I promise to come home, my Afghanistan
One day I will be in my mother’s arms
Groan on that day in your own Dari language
Weep softly, covered in your own Chadri
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*In July 2016, 230 peaceful protestors were wounded and 80 were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul’s Dehmazang Square. The attack targeted thousands of Shia Hazaras who were marching to protest a power line.
