Student.se

I never saw my father's land, the country of his birth

Though, many times, he spoke of all its beauty, all its worth.

I never saw the cedar trees, or mountains to the skies,

But often did I sense their wonders, through my father's eyes.

I never heard the vendor's call, or marveled at his wares,

Yet, from his stories of the past, I felt that I was there.

So many memories he shared, his tales went on and on,

He left me with his dreams of what was once his Lebanon.

But sadness now has filled my heart for what once used to be.

The scars of war have devastated every memory.

The country of his origin is torn with bloody strife,

The Lebanon my father knew is fighting for its life!

The children's songs of yesteryear are smothered by their tears,

And mother's weep-with empty arms-hearts burdened by their fears.

The men are dying all around, the father's and the son's,

The holes that once had tilled the land replaced by bloodied guns.

What madness breeds such misery, what evil minds to blame,

How dare they massacre a land, and all "in Allah's name"!

What God condones the ravishing and bloodshed of a land?

The lust of power-hungry men are surely not His hand!

I pray, my God of every man, will open blinded eyes,

And all, before it is too late, will come to realize,

That peace, before all other goals, must be the final cause..

There are no winners in the cold and ugliness of wars!

I never saw my Father's land or what it used to be,

And yet I feel the wounds of sorrow burning deep in me.

When will it end, this senseless strife, oh Lord, what can we do,

To have again his Lebanon, the land my father knew..