In this city, everything has stopped
In this city, everything has stopped, a new poem by Mohammed Moussa.
In this city, everything has stopped.
The birds have gone silent, as have the voices of the living and the dead.
My mother’s prayers have stopped.
Joys have stopped.
The noise of the stores has stopped.
The lights have stopped, the taxis have stopped.
Those returning from the dead have stopped, as have those returning to life.
The women who gave their femininity to the birds have stopped.
The farmers, the clergy, the cemetery guards.
The language has stopped, as have the silence, the stillness, and the music.
The beginning has stopped, the return has stopped, the end has stopped.
In this city, everything has stopped.
The cake seller has stopped.
The sound of artillery has stopped, as have the screams of soldiers and newborns.
The crying of fathers has stopped, the lovers have stopped, the visitors to the city have stopped, the invaders have stopped.
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See also: A statement on writing poetry during a genocide – Bella Caledonia