Genesis - The Beginning of the Syrian Revolution

In the beginning God created Heaven and called it “Syria”. And God said, “Let there be light and Peace,” and there was light and Peace. God saw that the light and Peace were good, and he was pleased.

And God said, “Let there be a love”. So God made the hearts of Syrian filled with love for peace.” God saw that the love was good, and he was pleased. Then God created the Jewel of all and called it “Freedom”, and the Syrians fell in love with Freedom. And it was so. Freedom became the ultimate goal of Syrians.

Then God created the beasts of the Earth, and the Beast of Syria was called Assad. Assad did not love peace or light; above all he hated Freedom. He oppressed the Syrians, murdered their sons and raped their daughters.

The people of Syria loved Freedom more than anything else in Heaven or Earth. And God said, “Let the people of Syria rise against the Beast” And it was so. Syrians rose against the beast of Syria, the so called Assad, but they rose in peace and love for each other, even distributed flowers of peace and love to the soldiers of Assad, in hope that their humanity would prevail and they return the love for their oppressed brothers and sisters. And God saw that it was good and blessed the Syrians.

Then the Beast was displeased and said, “Let there be war against Freedom. Let the people of Syria suffer and die so I could remain in power.” Thus the Beast unleashed his legions, his birds of fire, and all kinds of weapons in his arsenal, even the “gas of death”, to destroy Syria, kill the Syrian people and kill Freedom.

And God saw that and he was very displeased, so he blessed the Freedom Fighters of Syria to take up arms against oppression and Genocide and fight for Freedom, to fight the Beast and his legions.

Nonetheless, the Beast was cunning, and he released the last arrow in his arsenal of death, people killing in the name of God, so that the cause be lost and Freedom Fighters kill each other instead, and the Beast was very pleased.

Then God was very displeased and said, “I created mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may love each other, and live in peace and freedom.” And the Beast of Syria laughed and laughed and the sky rained barrels of death, the air breathed poison and the rocks spat fire and destruction. Syria was destroyed and its people became refugees in all corners of the earth.

God saw all the Beast had made, and it was not good. And there the people of Syria looked up to God in despair and said, “God; you are our only refuge from the Beast”, and then God answered their payers and created the “Syrian Revolution”.

Max O’Reilly

Camera is my Weapon

I picked up my “Camera’,
“A good shot!” they said.
A prize is looming in the air.
I crawled in the rubble.
I saw him there
He lifted what was left of his hand
To cover his burnt face
And I took the shot

I remember; I have seen him before!
Was it on Bloody Sunday?
Was it somewhere else?
When snipers riddled his body with bullets.
Was it somewhere else?

He was praying; kneeling, never to rise again.
I remember; bombs falling.
He was driving an ambulance
A dead girl in his arms.
Her blood on his face, scorching and hot.
And I took the shot.

A woman maddened with grief; pulling her hair,
She hit me with all the strength she’s got.
Was it because I took a shot?

A little girl was lying there,
Her face was so serene.
She had no arms or legs.
Nothing left but a sweet little face.
And I took a shot

Little boys with missing limbs
Were playing in the rubble
I stood petrified.
He reached with his ‘good’ hand
And took my camera,
To take a shot!

“Great work!” they said.
“Your pictures deserve a prize.”
“Are you blind?” I screamed.
“I’m not doing ‘this’ for a prize!”
“Look at them; hungry, bleeding, dying,
While their ‘Murderer’ escapes with impunity
Sir, I know; I was there,
I know, I took the shots.”

Max O’Reilly

Detainee

The Detainee

Cast into a dark place

Where am just a number

Suffocating in a tiny space

In dreamless slumber

Jolted, slashed; I would awake

To the screams of the voiceless

In every corner a horrible ache

Silhouettes breathless, noiseless

Still with pain; shaking with very jolt

Cracks of a merciless whip

Fear permeating like a thunder bolt

Bones cracking and flesh would rip

Apart a soul that once was free

Where freedom itself was confined

Within walls of fear; a "detainee"

Of old ages of hatred, blind

It will rise, will not bend a knee

To tyranny, to fear; it was the time

The voiceless had sung their plea

This sacred song; this holy rhyme

Jolted with fire that cracked my bones

My departing soul more adamant be

My last breath will shatter his "Throne"

I am the Revolution, I am the Detainee 

Max O’Reilly

The Poet

The Poet Max

Once I was an Eagle soaring high

With powerful wings and keen eyes

A spark of the sun I used to shine

Engulf the world in warmth divine

I was the moon shining bright

I lit the way in the darkest night

I was the sea teeming with life

I was the boat that sailed with strife

I fought the mighty wind and wave

I was the sailor strong and brave

I was the wind in her beautiful hair

I was the maiden lovely and fair

I was the knight in an ancient battlefield

His horse, his armor and invincible shield

I was the lightning and crushing of thunder

But if I have to choose among all those wonders

I would choose Me.

Max O’Reilly

Goodbyes

Cursed be the day and cursed be the hour

That I’ve heard of a loss I could not bear

In dismay I sit in my vacant room and stare

At an icon of such a delicate flower

What fierce hand of death what eternal power

Had snatched away the curly golden hair

In utmost grief now I do despair

Of receiving the grace of your love’s dower

The sweet, the bright eyes that I have known

Have gone away into the eternal land

Like a sweet angel he had flown

To the grace of the Lord I stretch my hand

And in my misery, am left alone

Your sweet love, to grieve and mourn

Max O’Reilly

Friendly Fire

Through the trails of war

I heard the beating drums

The world was in shatters

And cities were set aflame

Darkness in the horizon

Loomed and despair

As soldiers marched

The land gaped red

Towers fell apart

Orchard blazed with fire

And smoke reeled

In spiral of debris

Little feet scurried away

Bloody tears trickled

Heaps of scattered limbs

The pyre was to blame

Hungry for more wood

More blood, cremated

And nothing remains

But ashes of a dream

I went to the end of time

“In search for peace”

Reverberation echoed

Across the barren fields

Rumbled on in fury

Spitting its load of hate

Firestorms in the sky

Consumed the air I breathe

Smothered, I fumble

I grope blind

In search for

Remembrance, honor?

A lie…

I scream

“Friendly Fire”

So cold in the heat

I went to the sun

But her rays were cold

She froze my heart

With a stroke

And though I bleed

My blood is as white

As river Jordan

Baptizing me in Peace.

Max O’Reilly

morituri te salutamus

A Little Town once called Syria In this little town, A Tyrant reigns with Terror He turned its beautiful streets Into rivers of blood In this little town, Babies are headless Women are limbless Men drown in their own blood. In this little town, Grapes are made of wrath Bread is a ticking bomb And water turns into blood. In this little town, Eyes are stones Bloody tears trickle from their sockets Flesh is blackened with horror And hearts rumble like thunder Inside charred corpses And deafen the silent world. In this little town, Watches tick regularly Around severed wrists Setting time for revenge. In this little town, Shells scythe through our throats Yet we breathe. Little town, “We who are dying salute you.”

Max O’Reilly

Fly Homeward

The ‘Eagle’, in eternal torment sleeps

Time for his mighty heart to break, to weep

As he soars atop the mountains and sweeps

The endless peaks, with wings stretch'd wide

Majestic, like his country's Symbol of Pride,

Reigns o'er the Earth, the Air and the Tide

Heavens cried cold tears of desperate Woe

Covered the peaks with eternal majestic snow

His flame transformed the cold into eternal glow

Arise, ‘Eagle’, spread your Wings and Fly

Don’t let the Wind breathe its mournful sigh

Heaven's light shines your way to the Sky

Fly homeward, Eagle, where the Eternals are

Fly homeward and grab the ‘Brightest Star’

Let your thunderous scream be heard afar

When disease extinguished the Eagle's heart

Mountains rumbled; their peaks split apart

The Sun embraced him that his burden may depart

Fly homeward, Eagle, beat your wings in flight

Join the ‘lamps of Heaven’ to shine through the Night

Darkness fades as your Spirit finally joins the Light

Max O’Reilly

New Year

The months went flying by

‘January’ was the beginning

Of a year forlorn with a sigh

‘February’ ushered the fall

In dead winter snow

‘March’ a trip into despair

Pain was my companion

A anxious whisper… why?

‘April’ held no answer

‘May’ was our sweet encounter

Soft as the breeze in spring

Gentle like an ‘Angel wing’

The lights of ‘June’ were dim

‘July’ took my voice

Blue ‘August’ crushed my heart

‘September’ was the magic

O’ Sweet ‘October’  

I hold You in my trembling heart

‘November’

Like flakes of snow so white
Will bless my life with eternal ‘Light’

‘December’
You promised to stay with me till the ‘End’

Hold my hand till it’s Time

For my hands to change into a wings and fly

Max O’Reilly

Color of Death

As I went to a ‘war’ in a ‘peaceful’ land
Fire rumbling, shells dropping where I stand

Red was the color of my memories and dreams
Red was the sound of my silent screams

Red as the eastern sunsets when they glow
I remember how peaceful it was few years ago

Red is all I see now; all I hear and smell
Cannon fire, a bullet and a shell

Horror was all I saw on a civilian ‘battlefield’
For freedom I will die, "their" hatred revealed

I lie in the naked sun; cold with a shiver
Red was the grass, the sea and the river

Dismayed, I call for help; my 'childhood friend'
Fired the last fatal bullet that sealed my ‘end’

Max O’Reilly

Storm

Listen to the storm
I will be gone
Exactly as I came

Listen to the storm
Your heart will be torn
My love is to blame

Listen to the storm
That in my heart rages
Will set your heart aflame

Listen to the storm
Break your sweet cage
My storm is never tame

Listen to the storm
In its gusts I was born
Turmoil is my name

Listen to the storm
I will be gone
Exactly as I came

Max O’Reilly

Last Flight of the Eagle

Fly, ‘Eagle’ and spread your powerful wings
Above the clouds in a dreamy majestic flight
Let thy scream sound as when trumpets sing
Reverberating atop mountains of eternal light

The Sun awaits your wings of flame
Freedom awaits you in blissful Heaven
Leave the darkness behind to its shame
The lights of eternal bliss you are given

No 'hunter' can break your fearless wings
Or cage thy spirit in a feeble human form
On the mountain tops you are the King
Fly into the boundless sky and stir the storm

Heaves awaits you; Glory you are shown
Take joy in your ‘last’ Blessed Flight
Perch at the top of your mighty Throne
Blessed with glory of eternal light

Giving the Eagle’s eyes their piercing sight
And his Wings their majestic power of flight 

Max O’Reilly

Eve of My Funeral

My heart aches and longs for death

My senses are numbed with an excruciating pain.

Forlorn! I must give up my dying breath

So, I emptied some opiate into my vein.

Now with pleasure I await to die

I set the myrtle garland on my brow

To drown the anguish of my soul

A huge shadow against the sky

Summons me; I’m ready now

To obey proudly when Death shall call.

Max O'Reilly

Candle

I roamed the streets in a city

Where houses were made of light

Paradors were chanting a ditty

Silhouettes dancing in the night

I roamed in silence with the band

Shadows dancing around the fire

Candles flickering in their hands

Listening to the celestial choir

A distant bell tolling the hour

Darkness faded into morning time

Myriad of lights fell in a shower

Of divine music and heavenly rhyme

Colors so radiant and hot as fire

The house of light was set aflame

Flames dancing like an ancient pyre

Droplets of wax were to blame

Melting into a dream of sweet desire

This ephemeral earthly frame

My Soul fearless, it rises higher

Leaving the darkness to its eternal shame

Max O'Reilly

Liberty

Mother of Exiles, her bosom is boiling with putrid hate

Her beacon points to where the Angels wait

Go back to the “Beast” that destroyed your land

Fight or Join him, I do not care to understand

I, Ruler of Land of Pilgrims, will close my doors

Better not set foot on my Golden Shores

Don’t give me your tired, your poor to rest on my floor

Deep into my waters they shall flee the war

Sea-washed bodies scatter at my Ancient Gates

They shall relive the violence, relive the Hate

“Blessed are the Meek” they shall “NOT” inherit the land

Or ever be treated as the “Lord commands”

Yet they come in droves yearning to be Free

They are the wretched, the victims, the Refugees

Max O’Reilly

Roi Lion

Sunrise on n my "Golden Mane"
I am the King, will justly reign

My roar rivals the majestic Sun
My will on this earth is done

The plains green and eternally vast
My steps rumble from ancient past

I am the majestic symbol of nature wild
I lead my brethren; protect my Pride

I am not your trophy to hunt and kill
To roam freely is my ultimate will

Mortal, beware of my fangs and claw
I am the King; that is the "Law".

Max O’Reilly

Wolf

Wolf

The trail is long, and shadows loom
Ahead of me is a wintery tomb

The sled rocks and the dogs Howl
The tormented soul of the winds yowl

The ice swallows me, splinters my soul
Shards piercing my bones into thousand holes

A Shadow, fur and teeth, and wistful Howl
I grit my teeth, I snarl and growl

The smell of blood will lure the Beast
Dogs and Man a delicious feast

I stare into the golden eyes, the amber
Blazes into my soul, serene and somber

We Howl in unison we call upon the wind
To judge this duel, the champion grinned

I am the Wolf, the Spirit that guides
I am the Wolf, a will that strides

Into a different world, a different past
Or a future that ripples in golden blasts

The horizon is streaked with a golden hue
A magnet, a sun that leads to the "Distant Blue"

My spirit roams closer to times gone
Yet I see a light beckoning me to the Sun

Spirit burning with desire to transform or die
I am a Wolf, a song once sung will forever Fly

The ice breaks, I drown into the distant past
A grip snatches me from oblivion wide and vast

I look up into the eyes of the Wolf, divine
Shadow dissolves into majestic design

I hear the dogs around me bark
The sun had set and the glooming dark

A distant Star in the sky shines bright
The Wolf and me are one with the night

I am the Wolf, a spirit that guides
I am the Wolf that lived and died

To protect my pack, I give my life
To save the Man and to end the strife

Between Wolf and Man, we are One
Our Spirit together will rise to the Sun

Entwined in a glow that the heavens transform
Rise and twirl to become the Storm

The Wolf is now the spirit of the Man
We are the pack, the pride and clan

We are the Ice eternal and sublime
We are the song that powered this rhyme
Together forever till the End of Time

Max O'Reilly

Death

Death, sweet Concubine of Man
Wither not in the wistful embrace of time
Slowly rise and shine if you can
A glow that touches the soul sublime

Be weary not of dreams or pain
Or a word serene or anguished rhyme
Death is sweet, an invisible chain
A whisper soft, a broken chime

Closer, my beautiful concubine, I await
Your touch, your kiss and soft gloomy breath
I, who will ultimately, set the date
To dance in your sweet embrace, O’Death

Your azure glow warms my troubled heart
Beckons me closer to you, Mistress of Time
A vow to you solemn, will never again be apart
Youth bows to You, withers in your prime

I can no longer wait to dissolve in your embrace
Break what ties me to life, that hateful tether
To be in love with You is no shame or disgrace
None can sever the bond that Death joins together

Max O'Reilly