Sharper than the
blade
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo
In times of oppressive regimes, the poet, more than any
other artist, is exposed to the most hideous of possibilities: imprisonment and
death. Those in power, although not fully aware of the meaning and relevance of
the poem, are fearful of the written word, particularly verses that move people
to take collective action.
Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca was
executed in 1936 by firing squad per orders of Franco-era officials, per documents obtained just recently, in 2015. Before then, it was
thought that he was executed by a “rightwing firing squad along with three
others.” The documents
suggest García Lorca was persecuted for being a “socialist and a freemason,”
and for being a “homosexual”.
Palestinian
poet Dareen Tatour, an Israeli citizen from the Galilee village of Reineh, was
convicted of incitement to violence and supporting terrorism through her poems,
and was sentenced to five months in prison. “One of the main pieces of evidence
against Tatour is a poem she wrote in Arabic called “Qawem ya sha’abi, qawemhum.”
(“Resist, my people, resist them.”)
A
court in Saudi Arabia ordered the beheading of Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh,
convicted of apostasy, but the punishment was revised reducing to eight years
in prison, 800 lashes and public repentance, due to international pressure. “His
legal troubles began when he was arrested in 2013 after an argument in a cafe.
He was released without charge, but rearrested later and accused of blasphemy
and illicit relationships with women. The charges were based on photographs and
the contents of his poetry book published abroad years before, according to
court documents.”
For
her activist views and being the widow of a Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, Liu
Xia, a poet, was put on house arrest and detained after the death of her
husband.
Turkish
writer Aslı Erdoğan was sent to prison on charges of “membership of a terrorist
organisation” and “undermining national unity.” Ash Erdogan is the author of
“The City in Crimson Cloak”, referred as “a poem-novel, poetry of the twilight
zone, and verses of poetry saturated with bitter juice of life and existential
suffering.”
So
many others, who wrote about their beliefs, challenged the predominant order
and pushed for human rights were either killed, imprisoned, or just disappeared.
English
novelist Edward George Bulwer Lytton was right, “The pen is mightier than the
sword.” The pen can indeed liberate minds and free nations. But, the pen, as
sharp as the blade, can harm those closest to it, and can become lethal to the
one who is most skillful at using it.
Pen, Pen
pen,
pen, the sarapen
de
kutsilyo, de almasen
bang,
bang, kasebeg to,
paltogen!
anlong
ya andukey
narel
na saray uley
anlong
ya antikey
akulong,
inatey.
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