The Land

(A poem by Sal Godoij.)

Humans, I learned, are last

In the chain of wishes

The land comes first

Blood and promises, the land

It is not a children’s playground

Nor is it a dancing floor

Neither a garden nor a song

But a tomb for all

They die for it and in it

They who could have been friends

Who could have formed a family

They who could have shared the temple

For even divided, God would have blessed them

But what is the use of the land

If it serves only as a common grave?

God didn’t say: Let there be light

For us to start killing each other

Thus remaining in darkness

By our own will

And is it all because of the land

For the land comes first

First than life

With its thorns and cliffs

The land comes first

With its deep ravines, its quicksand

It’s not a children’s playground

It’s not a dancing floor

Neither a garden nor a song

But a war-torn field

And a tomb for all

Humans, I learned, are last

In the chain of wishes, the land

Comes first

Above life, above God

The land

Comes first.