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CWAL (Violence)
Violence and terror will cause a
man to leave his country, his family, his job--everything
he knows. The Imazighen who have left Algeria live a life
in between cultures, like a zombie moving through a world
not their own.
The violence bring us here
This is why we left the country
The violence bring us here
Be sad olive three
The violence bring us here
The day we slammed the door
O my heard you did not enjoy life
And you were blamed
You be like the anvil between the hammers
If you skip one the other gets you
You are just avoiding the days
You do not know where you are going
You lost the taste of honey
You get only the bitter
O body what it happened to you?
You are empty of life
The heart it use to beat
Today, it is being beaten
You are in a temporary situation
The days are racing
You are neither here or there
You harvest only the wind
You were sacrificed like a pigeon
They still live; you were exterminated
DA LMULUD (Tribute to the Writer)
A tribute to the famous Berber writer
Mouloud Mammeri, who was killed ina car accident in 1989.
He was the symbol of Amazigh culture. He was our light! We
looked
toward him to develop and teach our language. Today we all
promise him to give life to his work for the Tamazight language
and our culture.
I forgot my sickness
You had passed away
My tongue is tied
Since you can no longer speak words
I must remember
The heart of writing beats no more
The sun has been turned off
In the middle of the day
Water has been poured on hot coals
Bitter cold has surprised us
The light that shone so much
Has been strangled by darkness
Oh! Road of Ain Defla*:
I will shun driving through you
Oh! Road of Ain Defla
If I were a rock, I would stone you
Oh! Road of Ain Defla
You are the one who broke my heart
If you were the true way
You would not have gone out of the way
You would not pierce the water-skin
Water would not have poured out
But since you left us wailing
Remember you cut us from our roots
The jackal will howl against you
You will not hear birds sing
Water will flood you
In big streams, they will come pouring
Since you sacrificed Dda Lmulud**
The River of Shlef *** will surround you
Even though he was taken away
The writing he left is like a fountain
With its waters, we take baths
So that our learning will be pure
Our minds will have no handicap
Grains will recognize the waste
On February 28
Passion surrounded on the Djurdjura^ mountains
The young and old were present
At the funeral of Dda Lmulud
At the grave, sadness was present
Even if he left Tamazight still crawling
That day, there was anger in the air
In us it was boiling
That day, all roads
Were leading people to At-Yenni^*
Some by car, some by foot
At Tawrirt^^, they all met
At Tizi^^^, shops were all closed
Sadness had overtaken the city
We did not bury his body
We have planted his treasure
Its roots have spread generously
To hold strongly the Land of Tamazgha^*^
So that no mud slide will threaten us
We live through him, he lives through us
I swear by Si Muhand^^^^
Who swore to break but not bend
I swear by Chikh Muhand^^^^^
Who sculpted words like a torch
That the language for which you fought
Will be written………. and written
AASAS (Vigil)
This poem speaks about the man and nature. Why does the man
wait? Is he afraid of the darkness of night or of the darkness
of man?
Vigil of night
The rats kept me company
Vigil of night
There was only darkness
Vigil of night
Just me and a rifle
Vigil of night
People sleep
Vigil of night
Without dinner
Vigil of night
The obligation held me
Vigil of night
My turn came
Vigil of night
Like everyone's
Vigil of night
Until the rising of the day
Vigil of night
Without knowing why
Why do I watch over the night?
Does the night need vigil?
Why do I take care of the night?
Is the night afraid of the day?
Why do I take care of the night
Is the night afraid of darkness?
The night comes out of there all alone
It will leave as it came
The night can extricate itself
With or without me
The night gets used to
The calms and the violence
It knows them
Me, living in the day
The night does not belong to me
Me, fallen into darkness
It was outside my knowledge
Why am I sitting in vigil?
For the night or myself?
YENNAYER, the Amazigh New Year
Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year,
is an opportunity to remember our traditions and culture It
is also a time to call for the solidarity of the Amazigh community.
It is not only eating couscous. It is an important time.
Today is the beginning of the year
Welcome to the Yennayer
The kabyle woman is meeting her children
She will cook couscous and vegetables
Today is the beginning of the year
Welcome to Yennayer
I hope the year will be great
We will really study the Berber
I wish we had Yennayer every day
So we can remember our roots
I wish Yennayer were all day and night
In order to contemplate our culture
I wish Yennayer were like a pillar
Which could save Tamazgha from the worst
Please Uncle Yennayer
Do not treat us like the old women
We want the peace
Create friendship from dispute
Otherwise it will be our loss
We will get the worse part
We will sacrifice a chicken for you
Because the brothers are fighting
We will start for cooking
The couscous will be like a snow
Unity will come home
It will wake up the fools.
CEREQRAQ (Shining and Exploding)
Each Amazigh person today is taking
different a direction. Some are taking east the others the
west . Some leave our homeland and then blame others for not
respecting theTamazight language and the Amazigh culture.
We must change ourselves, not blame others for our lack of
freedom. We must do our own work for our culture.
Shining and exploding
Somebody took east another took west
It happen us like this insect
Appearing only on sunny days
The separation is excruciating
Like the bird who has his throat cut
The separation weighs on us
Like a heavy burden
The separation is the anguish
Like the closed tomb
Shining and exploding
Since the past, we were hanging in midair
It was as if we were a ball
Throws from one hand to another.
We exiled ourselves from the country
Now they can find themselves
Somebody died. Another exile
This is how the fighters like it
But us we invest in the poetry
This is the only thing we have
Shining and exploding
We were stricken in our hearts
Because we did not make the right decision.
Our unity is exploded
Shining and exploding
Somebody took east, one to the west
Shining and exploding
Going your own way
Shining and exploding
Complain all you want
Shining and exploding
We were strangle with our own hands
TAFAT (Light)
Looking for light means looking
for life, love, peace, happiness. An Amazigh proverb says
"If you ask the person who is blind: What are you looking
for? He will answer you: I am looking for light! "
I lit a candle
In the middle of night
It blew out
It became only dripping wax
The darkness of night
Fell like a blanket
The night is long
The candle blows out
The night is long
The light has left
The night is long
Without measure
I looked for light
In the middle of the darkness
I looked for light
Day and night
I looked for light
More than one year
I looked for it
In the middle of day
I looked for it
Under the moon
I looked for it
Where it should be
I followed my eyes
The cracks between doors
Maybe the light
Is coming out
I followed my eyes
The cracks between doors
Maybe the light
Will break open the doors
I followed my eyes
The cracks between doors
Where is the light ?
I turn around it
The light did not arrive
The door is still closed
I waited so long
No more hope
I am pale
Living with emptiness
Why there is no light?
Somebody still has it
Why there is no light?
Somebody still holds it
Why there is no light?
Somebody extinguished it
The darkness bring the fear
It brings the unknown
The darkness bring the fear
No one knows for how long
The darkness bring the fear
No one knows where it goes
How could we find light?
If we do not have it
How could we find light?
If we look on it with darkness
How could we find light?
If we do not awaken the day
Who lives in comfort like this?
Only the mouse who likes darkness
How did you shape up?
The light left a day
Where is your hardness?
The sun gone for more than a year now
I will not come with you
I am looking for light
I will not come with you
The darkness is outside the border
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