“Mother and Child”
by Syrian artist
Louay Kayyali
I met your daughter the other day,
New friend to my Willa,
At a gathering for new college students.
Our girl will be far away.
Your Farah is farther from you.
This morning I wake to a misty silver dawn.
In the kitchen bright and familiar
We steep tea, cook our meal,
Visit with our younger daughter as she readies herself for school.
The news is full of Syria.
More of us oppose war, thank God.
Many try to persuade one way or the other.
I am oppressed by the weighty noise of news, so
Step out into the morning,
Breathe in the glad scent of honeysuckle,
Feel Safe.
And am arrested by thoughts of you.
Is your dawn misty silver?
What scent greets your day?
What flowers bloom outside your home?
Do you have other children that you ready for school?
I want you to feel safe too.
Not to be wondering
If you should leave your country,
Your home,
Your kitchen,
Your garden.
I want you to feel safe too.
What a powerful piece, Jennifer. For the sake of Farah and all her countryfolk, I pray that this New Year (school and Jewish) brings peace in Syria and everywhere else. Peace of mind, security with privacy, and an earned trust in the great institutions of the world, and our friends and neighbors.
With Tevan also far away, sharing his learning and living experience with kids from all around the world, I realize that it’s the kids that can help us adults to get it right.
Hopefully, with the kids in mind, the crazy escalation of war and violence in Syria can be stopped. Thanks for your awesome writing, and for everyone else you do, for the kids and everyone else!
Safety, we have had the luxury of enjoying it for a long time. So many wars recently, so many deaths. My urgent prayer is for an end to the war mentality of our leadership and the growth of respect for the planet.
Thank you Jennifer for sharing this.
Thanks Bob and Glenna. I am always amazed at how empathy builds when we have personal relationships with those who differ from us — culturally, politically, personally.
Tricia Gates Arciga just shared this Washington Post article about non military ways to support the Syrian people and save lives. Here it is.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/05/three-big-ways-the-u-s-could-help-syrians-without-using-the-military/
Good points made. Also, in that blog set, there was one on pesticides that is noteworthy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/18/the-world-uses-billions-of-pounds-of-pesticides-each-year-is-that-a-problem/.
Thanks for the pesticide blog Bob. Another huge issue for us humans to deal with, for sure.
Here’s an article about Farah and her work to help Syrian refugee children continue to be taught while their lives are so disrupted.
http://www.uwc-usa.org/page.cfm?p=672&newsid=63
Jennifer, thank you for this moving, powerful, and beautiful reminder of our common humanity. As a new parent, I identify with the possibility of forging connections with those with life histories that might be different from our own through the link of parenthood. Cultural practices and beliefs may produce vastly different life experiences, but the experience of watching one’s child learn and grow is universal.
Your lovely words remind me of a song by Sting, written during the height of the Cold War (and threat of nuclear annihilation from that ridiculously misguided “deterrence” policy). I don’t remember the title, but part of the chorus was, “The Russians love their children too.” That love can provide a bond between parents from halfway across the world.