Azerbaijan International

Spring 1994 (2.1)
Page 32

Fleeing

Poem by Rafael Huseinov
Traslation from Azeri (Cyrillic) by Tamam Bayatly Onar



Fleeing from Agdam, May 1993
Photo by Oleg Litvin


Fleeing from death,
But leaving behind our lives.
Fleeing from our past,
But leaving behind our future.
Fleeing our homes,
Running towards Hope.
But there was no time
To carry such an extra burden
in the stampede.
So we rid ourselves of
The heavy burden of Hope
Just as we had rid ourselves
Of the other things we couldn't take
Our cemeteries,
Our homes and hearths,
Our trees and flowers.

Fleeing . . .
There was fear, blood and death
behind us.
But there was nothingness in front -
Not even time.
Running towards emptiness, void,
and timelessness.
Somewhere inside our brains and hearts,
In the hidden depths of our souls,
We felt that this fleeing
Was even more horrible
Than remaining where we were.
But there was no way out:
We were fleeing even from God.

From now on,
Wherever we go
We will be strangers,
We will be guests,
We will be wanderers
in an alien place.
And though none of us is
an ordinary human being,
We share a common name -
"Refugee."
Who can dare comprehend
Our unfathomable pain?


From Azerbaijan International (2.1) Spring 1994.
© Azerbaijan International 1994. All rights reserved.

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