Guantanamo storie

A poem based on the memoirs of Samir Naji, an innocent Muslim man who was imprisoned without any charge in the notorious Guantanamo Bay.

Does he not hear the bombs exploding in Iraq? Does he not see the cloud of smoke arising? Does he not hear the machine-guns shooting? Does he not here the mother crying: "If this is a war for any kind of resources- take them all! But don't take my child!"? Has he not heard the kids of India? Has he not heard their stomachs growling? Did nobody tell him about the starving people in East Africa? Did he not hear them craving for water? Did he not see the mother of three children left with no children? Did he not hear the animals howl on their search for pasture? Has he failed to see the teardrops of the little children working in China? Did he not hear of Trayvon Martin from Sanford?Did he not see him dying for no reason? Has he not seen the burning marks of the Guantanamo inmates? Did he not hear the lashes of the whip? Has he not smelled the fragrance of the corpses in Syria? - Have you not heard of injustice?

Arif, Saeed, Monir and Raheem are four friends who go to Pakistan for Arif's wedding. Just after the devastation of 9/11, the US and the Taliban are at war and the four decide to help the injured in Afghanistan. Little do they know that Guantanamo is around the corner...

Aziza Al-Zeid, a fifteen year old Muslim girl, walks the street of America alone. Well not completely alone, her best friend Nick, her father and her siblings. After her mother is taken away from her, she becomes the woman of the house. For two years, she raised her brother and sister. Her father who worked day and night to provide for them. As the days pass by, Aziza struggles to deal with the changes, with the constant murmurs of the kids from school and looking after children. Once it is declared that Faridah, her mother is having another trial, Aziza's whole world shatters to pieces. In an unknown place, Guantanamo Bay, a place and an experience like none before, unless, you see it through her eyes.