A Poem from the Book:
“Of Birds and Men” by Mahmud Kianush
A drop of dew
Glimmering
With the colour of its base
In the silvery light of dawn
Can remind us
Of many, many things:
Its appearances depend
On who,
where,
and
In what mood we are.
In the silvery light of dawn,
Following the night
When Hypocrite the Tyrannous,
In a godforsaken land,
Charged a young sceptic
With blasphemy
And sent him to the firing squad,
This drop of dew,
Is a sea of sacred blood
In which are reflected
The forgotten, glorious faces
Of all who have been killed
Since the beginning of Thought
Only because they wanted to say:
“I love freedom!
I have my own Ideas,
And my own Ideals!
I also am the Truth!”
But a drop of dew
On a rose petal,
Or a green leaf,
Or an apple blossom,
Or anything else,
In the silvery light of dawn,
For a little bird
Is always only
A drop of water:
The awakening drink of the day.
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