Srebrenica Forgiveness
By Haris Silajdzic

 

That bloodstain

on the forehead of posterity

with bloodied palms

you want to erase

hope bloodied you gave them

in bloodied nightmares to suffocate

 

Through bloodied soil you trudge

in the dark

your tired fingers grope

feeling for the light

where tears should be

in your eyes blood sweat

 

There devilish voices

if you hear again

those who put you

on the path of blood

those who hide behind God

 

Beware

more blood they desire

those who deny and perjure

barking blood day and night

their tongues will chain you

in their macabre dance

to lock you

 

Yet in the court of conscience

truth only be told

 

Let the truth emerge

half of the bridge

forgiveness

the other half build

 

Asking for forgiveness?

 

Behold

there it is

in the eyes of a mother

still mourning her children,

in the graves of Srebrenica

it may be

 

There and there only

it may be

There and only there

your salvation must be

 

Ask:

Raise your hand

you whom I have killed

raise both hands

raise both hands

with wire tied

in the hour of death

 

Place them on my heart

 

Bless

with pure water 

to wash my hands

that bloodstain to erase

posterity their head to raise

 

Asking for forgiveness?

 

Shout then

Top of your lungs:

Yes

I am the henchman

I am the killer

I am guilty

 

For nothing I have killed but

their voracious hate-pit to fill

 

Forgive me 

if you can

I have shed your blood

for your mercy now I beg

 

I have built half of the bridge

may your forgiveness

the other half build

 

And, who knows...?

 

Merciful is the soul of Bosnia!

--

 

(Haris Silajdzic has published a number of short stories and poems. He has been Prime Minister and Presiding of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

 


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