We Are Brothers Iii

Don’t look at me As though I am an alien or a stranger, Don’t let the dagger of antipathy Fly out of your eyes. I am your neighbor. Don’t call me a foe, an antagonist, or a rival, Don’t roll up your mistrustful sleeves for a fight. I am your friend. Don’t hold this murderous weapon in your kind hand, Don’t deny me the right to work, to eat, or to live. I am your brother. If destiny willed me to be born On this side of the frontier line, If my parents wished me To wear these clothes And taught me their own dances, Do we have to be adversaries? If fate desired me to speak This tongue foreign to you And our skins’ color to differ, Do we have to be competitors? If necessity decided for us To live in this country, In the North, South, East, or West, Do we have to be opponents? If I believe in Jesus, Jehovah, Krishna, Buddha, Brahma Or Allah, If this is my philosophy, My tradition, My history And my culture, Do we have to be enemies? No! A million times: no! Please, look at me with new eyes And throw away your injurious prejudices. What do you see but a person like you Who wants, desires, and hopes for the same things in life: Well-being, Happiness, A home, Family, Some friends, Some love? Look: I walk, I talk, I eat, I sleep, I dream, I laugh and I cry. Just like you. I’m born, I grow up, I learn, I suffer, I bleed And I die. Just like you. I’m a father, A mother, A brother, A sister, A son, And a daughter. Just like you. You see: we are alike. We are the same. We are brothers. Listen to me my neighbor, my friend, and my ally: I am telling you the truth. We are the victims of schemes, Well planned in advance By deceitful evil-hearted men, who wished our Destruction to bring. They, masters of savage forgery, dividers of mankind Have tricked us throughout history With well-orchestrated lies And with treacherous stories. These intellectually impotent criminals Have instilled poison in your heart and mine. Thus, by cultivating hatred, bitterness, and rage, They managed to shape us into ruthless foes, Into merciless enemies, Into cruel animals. Please, listen to me! It is true. We are brothers. Let us therefore with irresistible will cross all frontier lines That the past has erected between us, Thus making divisions vanish. Let us with supreme power, break the bonds of history, Religion and culture and run into each other’s arms. Let us uproot from our tormented hearts thorny mistrust That was planted there thousands of years ago. Let us seize ammunition from destructive hatred, And make war capitulate. Let us sink the cholera of bitterness In the affectionate sea of the universal brotherhood, And finally, Let us unite and march to higher claims, To incomparable glory Where peace can blossom today. Thus, Both of us, my brother, at last, will go to sleep, Fearless of each other tonight! © Demetrios Trifiatis 04 March 2022 NOTE: I post this poem again because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the danger, this invasion creates to start a larger conflict. This poem of mine has received 12653 visits, has been taught in schools in Germany and has been recited in peace events all over the world, and has won the first prize in a poetry competition concerning peace in India. Moreover, they have asked my permission to present it as a theatrical play in the USA and as an opera in the UK. LET US PRAY AND WORK FOR PEACE! GOD SAVE UKRAINE!