Content
Preface
In the heart of Tigray is a profound sorrow and undying resilience. The poetry collection you are about to delve into is not just a series of verses, but a collective cry, a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Tigrayan people. This book, "Poetry on Tigray Genocide - Part I," seeks to capture the anguish, the courage, and the unyielding hope that have marked our journey through one of the darkest chapters in our history, genocide.
Each poem narrates the experiences of those who have lived through weaponized starvation, weaponized rape, massacre, cultural destruction, infrastructure destruction, and displacement. The poetry in this collection is not merely about suffering; it is also about resistance and the unwavering will to survive. Each poem serves as a beacon of hope, a call for justice, and a reminder that the human spirit can endure even the greatest adversities.
May you find not only the echoes of our pain but also the resonance of our hope. These poems are a glimpse of our history, our truth, and our plea for a future where Tigray's nights are no longer filled with silent suffering, but with the dawn of peace and healing.
In compiling these works, I made heavy use of news sources. This book is a tribute to the strength of Tigray's people, a chronicle of their struggles and triumphs. This book is distributed for free. It is my hope that through this work, the voices of Tigray will reach the hearts of many, inspiring solidarity, compassion, and action.
With deepest respect and hope,
Batseba
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
In Axum's Halls, a Tale of Loss. 28
A Tigrayan Anthem Amidst Turmoil 29
Echoes of Tigray: Voices in the Storm of Strife. 31
Exile's Echo: Western Tigray. 32
“Slaughtered like Chicken”. 33
Adigrat: From Beauty to Betrayal 34
Silenced Voices: Betrayal and Resilience in Addis. 35
In the shadows of Um Raquba, we gather. 37
Voices in the Shadows: The Search for Bishop Tesfay Medhin. 38
Guardians' Stand: Sacrifice in Adigrat 41
Echoes of Hawzen: Tears in the Night 42
Maryam Dengelat's Martyrs: Echoes of Sorrow.. 43
Echoes of Valor: Abraha Atsbaha's Resolute Stand. 44
Silenced Innocence: Remembering Tokot's Brave Young Souls. 46
Axum's Stand for Maryam Tsion. 49
Silenced Echoes: Tigray's Resilience Amidst Plunder. 50
Echoes of Mekelle: A Cry from Tigray. 51
Addi Qoylo: Martyrs' Lament 53
Defiance in Tigray: Echoes of Resistance. 54
Tigray's Cry Amidst the Ruins. 62
Tigray's Silent Nights: A Resilient Dawn. 64
Hear our plight, In Tigray's darkness, be our light. 65
Shire's Defiance: The Unbroken Spirit of Tigray. 68
Echoes of Imba Alaje: Resilience in Tigray. 70
Echoes of Truth: Voices from Mekelle University. 71
Defending Hawzien and Gheralta. 74
Echoes of Axum: Voices in the Shadows. 77
Echoes of Wuqro: Tragedy in Tigray. 78
Defiance in the Face of Drones. 78
Silenced Echoes: Tigray's Women Cry Against Injustice. 80
Defiled Sanctity: Debre Damo. 81
Al-Nejashi: Resilience Amidst Devastation. 82
In Tigray's Silence: A Plea Unheard. 87
Raise your voice, Let it be known. 91
Tales from Raya's Highlands. 93
Hagere Selam: Tales of Sorrow.. 95
Silent Suffering: Voices from Tigray's Healthcare Crisis. 96
Refuge in Resilience: Voices from Mekelle's Outskirts. 97
Echoes of Knowledge: Resilience in Mekelle. 98
Echoes of Axum: Voices from the Heart of Tragedy. 99
Voices of Defiance: Resilience in Mekelle. 100
Echoes of Axum: Sacred Sorrow and Defiance. 102
“You should have finished off the survivors”. 103
Voices of Shire: Echoes of Hunger and Hope. 104
Shire's Sorrow: Voices of the Displaced. 105
Defiance in Addi Da’iro: Voices Against Tyranny. 106
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Axum... 107
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Adigrat. 109
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Irob. 110
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Hagere Selam.. 111
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Yechila. 112
Echoes of Hunger: Voices from Tigray. 112
In Tigray's Heart, the Echoes Resound. 114
In Tigray's Silence, the Cry for Aid. 115
The Shattered Dreams of Tigray. 121
The Tears of Tigray's Heritage. 125
Axum’s Lament: The Massacre of Our Ancestors. 127
The Bombing of Samre and Gijet 130
Echoes of Resilience: Tigray's Cry for Peace. 136
Beneath the Flames: Tigray's Unyielding Resolve. 137
Silenced Echoes: Defiance in Tigray. 139
Echoes of Ruin: Tigray's Stolen Years. 139
Echoes of Sorrow: Mekele's Lament 141
Silent Screams of Tigray: A Chronicle of Tragedy. 142
The Detention of Truth in Tigray. 143
Echoes of Suffering: A Cry from Tigray. 146
Silenced Suffering: Tigray's Unheard Cry. 147
Shadows of Sorrow: Tigray's Lament 150
Whispers of Innocence Amid the Chaos. 161
Voices from the Shadows of Sheraro. 163
Echoes of Devastation: Hospitals. 165
Exodus: The Cleansing of Tigray. 167
Echoes of Suffering: Tigray's Cry. 169
Echoes of Grizana: A Tigrayan Lament 176
Truth's Blazing Revelation. 177
Silenced Suffering: Voices of Tigray’s Women. 178
Sorrows of Tigray’s Women. 182
Songs of Freedom from Sudan. 186
Silenced Echoes of Tigray. 188
As the Genocide Continued. 196
From the Depths, We Rise: Tigray’s Cry for Independence. 198
“A Tigrayan Womb Should Never Give Birth”. 209
Echoes of Defiance: A Tigrayan Requiem... 212
Silent Suffering: Tigrayan Echoes. 217
The Echo of Famine
In the hills of Tigray, the earth cries out,
Beneath the weight of hunger’s drought.
Once fertile lands now bow in grief,
Harvests stolen by a locust’s thief.
War drums beat where peace should reign,
A symphony of sorrow, a land in pain.
Tigray’s cry,
The sky weeps blood as rockets fly.
Desert winds stir the barren fields,
Empty stores, lost hope yields.
Children’s eyes, too weary to dream,
Stare at the dust where green once gleamed.
Famine’s shadow creeps on silent feet,
Where once was life, now emptiness greets.
We plead for mercy, a swift ceasefire,
Before the flames of hunger’s pyre.
A Lament for Tigray
Tigray’s heart is bleeding now,
From genocide’s cruel hand, from famine’s vow.
Once a land of verdant grace,
Now a desolate, forsaken place.
Locusts swarmed and stole the yield,
The fields lay bare, the hopes unsealed.
Genocide's harsh iron fist
Turns a starving world to mist.
Silent cries through shattered air,
No news of suffering, no one to care.
Food aid choked by borders tight,
While the innocent face the night.
A plea to gods and rulers cold,
To end the strife and save the bold.
To feed the mouths of those who weep,
And give the weary land some sleep.
The Silence of Tigray
In Tigray’s silence, a world implodes,
A cry for help that no one knows.
Broken roads and cut-off lines,
Innocent lives left to the binds.
Where the locusts’ hunger had begun,
Now the fires of war have spun.
A nation’s heart, so bruised and torn,
In the throes of grief, forlorn.
No aid, no hope, the darkness grows,
The seeds of genocide and famine sows.
Through shadows thick and futures grim,
We beg for mercy, a lifeline’s whim.
The echoes of a past still fresh,
When famine’s shadow laid its flesh.
We mourn the loss of hope and peace,
And pray the suffering will cease.
The Call for Ceasefire
A call rings out across the night,
Through shattered towns and hearts’ fraught flight.
In Tigray’s desolation, hope fades thin,
As war and famine both begin.
The locusts came, the fields they marred,
A harvest lost, the land left scarred.
Now bullets rain where rain should fall,
Innocent lives become the cost of all.
The world must act, must heed the plea,
For peace, for aid, for a destiny
Where hunger’s chains are cast away,
And families see a brighter day.
The lines of war must be drawn,
To end the bloodshed, greet the dawn.
Let food be sent, let peace be sown,
For Tigray’s children, for a land overthrown.
A Hammer and an Anvil
We stand in the shadows, eyes wide and watchful,
as history repeats its bitter refrain.
Eritrean support revealed, a mirror reflecting
the depth of our anguish and pain.
Abiy, your words veiled the truth,
a pact with Isaias, a bond forged in deceit.
Elite units trickled in, hidden from view,
Gherghera, the stage where ambitions meet.
In Asmara's outskirts, the hammer lay waiting,
the anvil, our homeland, Tigray's proud land.
A scheme preempted, yet conflict erupted,
our fate sealed by foreign command.
Planes in two days, a sky dark with wings,
soldiers flown in to fuel the fire.
From Massawa and Asseb, reinforcements arrive,
turning our home into a pyre.
Eritrea's divisions, a formidable force,
their hands stained with our blood, our tears.
Zalambesa's roads ran red, Edaga-Hamus mourned,
as mechanized beasts fed on our fears.
In Adwa's shadow, and Alamata's fields,
our people stood firm, our spirits unbroken.
But prisoners they took, our kin, our warriors,
yet proof remains unspoken.
Eritrea's President, a man of delusions,
his vengeance a poison, his grip iron-clad.
For twenty years, he has nurtured this grudge,
his legacy, a nation driven mad.
Abiy's silence, complicit and cold,
ensures the world's gaze turns away.
But we know the truth, we bear the scars,
of an alliance forged in betrayal's sway.
Refugees caught in a perilous web,
fleeing one tyrant, ensnared by another.
Eritrea's soldiers, with guns and chains,
drag our kin from camps, brother by brother.
Crying out, but words fall on stone,
Isaias's cruelty knows no bounds.
Supplies dwindle, hope fades,
in the camps, silence compounds.
To the international community, we plead,
hold Abiy and Isaias to account.
Protect our refugees, uphold the law,
let justice and peace surmount.
For Tigray, our land of pride,
will rise from these ashes, defiant and free.
No hammer, no anvil, can crush our resolve,
our spirit unyielding, our destiny to be.
Whispers of Betrayal
Eritrean soldiers tread our soil,
unseen, yet felt, their presence a ghost,
in the heart of Tigray, whispers of betrayal,
their shadows cast long, their menace a host.
Abiy and Isaias, a pact forged in lies,
thousands of troops cross the border unseen,
in the dark of night, their intent clear,
to crush our spirit, our lands unclean.
Satellite images, intercepted whispers,
evidence mounting, undeniable, stark,
but they cloak their actions in shadows,
seeking to keep us in the dark.
Uniforms exchanged, accents betray,
Eritrean troops in Tigrayan fields,
looting, fighting, the horror unveiled,
our land desecrated, our fate sealed.
UN team shot at, detained in fear,
diplomats whisper of the dreadful sight,
the world must see, must hear our cry,
in the depths of Tigray, we fight for our right.
Shadows on Our Soil
In Tigray’s hills, shadows tread,
Eritrean troops, their presence denied,
yet their deeds echo in the silence,
our homeland, a battleground wide.
Thousands cross in the dead of night,
uniforms blended, tongues twisted,
their intentions clear, their greed unfurled,
our land, their stage, our lives, enlisted.
We speak of looted homes,
our heritage plundered, our souls scarred,
yet the world hesitates, silence prevails,
as we stand resolute, unbowed, marred.
Diplomatic whispers, truths untold,
evidence, a silent scream,
our struggle, our cry, the world must heed,
in this war, we fight for our survival.
The Pact of Shadows
A Nobel laureate, now cloaked in war,
Abiy’s peace, a façade, a bitter jest,
Eritrean forces, a hidden hand,
in Tigray’s soil, they stake their quest.
Isaias’s men, their footsteps quiet,
through Zalambessa, Rama, Badme they tread,
their presence denied, yet undeniable,
our blood, the ink in this pact of dread.
We see their shadows, hear their accents,
Tigrinya, in a foreign tongue,
our homes looted, our people scarred,
in the heart of Tigray, a war unsung.
Diplomats murmur, but action stalls,
the world’s conscience, a fickle flame,
we bear witness to the deceit,
our struggle, a testament to their shame.
From Mekelle’s streets to Shire’s fields,
Eritrean troops, an unholy sight,
we stand defiant, our spirit unyielding,
in the face of darkness, we fight for light.
A Land Besieged
Tigray, our home, besieged by foes,
Eritrean soldiers, their presence a blight,
masked in shadows, their deeds unveiled,
our struggle, our truth, brought to light.
Abiy’s silence, a complicit nod,
to Isaias’s ambitions, ruthless and bold,
in the dead of night, they conspire,
to turn our land to ashes, cold.
The world looks on, its gaze averted,
diplomatic whispers, truths untold,
yet in the hills and valleys of Tigray,
a story of resistance, fiercely unfolds.
We plea,
for the world to see, to intervene,
but the silence is deafening, the inaction a curse,
as we fight for our land, our spirit keen.
From the depths of despair, our hope ignites,
Eritrean troops, we shall defy,
for in the heart of Tigray, a fire burns,
unquenchable, unyielding, reaching the sky.
The Unseen War
In the unseen war, our truth lies bare,
Eritrean soldiers, their presence denied,
yet in Tigray’s heart, their shadows loom,
their silent march, a deadly tide.
Abiy and Isaias, an unholy bond,
their ambitions wrapped in deceit,
our homes, our land, their battleground,
our fight for freedom, their desire to beat.
Satellite images, whispers caught,
evidence grows, undeniable, clear,
yet they cloak their deeds in shadows,
feeding on our blood, our fear.
Uniforms swapped, languages merged,
Eritrean accents, their true guise,
in Mekelle’s streets, in Tigray’s fields,
their presence a darkening sky.
We cry out to the world, a desperate plea,
for justice, for truth, for intervention,
yet in the silence, our resolve grows,
in the face of betrayal, our unyielding intention.
Cries from Shimelba
In Shimelba's shadow, the truth lies bare,
Refugees sheltered under skies of despair.
A UN team, a beacon of hope,
Denied, detained, shot at, left to cope.
In Tigray's heart, where fear takes root,
Our cries echo, our voices resolute.
International protection, a shield now shattered,
In a land where justice lies bruised and battered.
Shimelba, a haven turned into a snare,
Refugees cower in the cold, bitter air.
Eritrean soldiers, unseen yet near,
Their presence a whisper, a pervasive fear.
Safety denied, access revoked,
Innocence caught in a deadly cloak.
UN vehicles halted, shots fired in the night,
Our plea for justice, a desperate fight.
Detained briefly, a moment of dread,
The UN team forced, their hope bled.
Shimelba’s silence, a deafening cry,
Under the indifferent gaze of the sky.
Around the camps, the danger grows,
Innocence withers, as violence flows.
But we, the Tigrayans, will not break,
Our spirit unyielding, for justice’s sake.
To the world, we shout, hear our plight,
In the darkness, we stand, demanding light.
For Shimelba’s children, for those who flee,
We fight for their future, their right to be free.
Door-to-Door in Mekelle
In Mekelle’s heart, the drums of war resound,
Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, their plan profound.
Door-to-door, they march with iron will,
To assert control, to break our spirit still.
Mekelle, our home, our sacred ground,
Now a stage for violence, a battleground.
Each knock a thunder, each door a breach,
Our lives, our dreams, within their reach.
Soldiers, foreign, in our streets they tread,
With eyes of steel and hearts of lead.
Eritrean accents, Ethiopian might,
In our homes, they bring the fight.
But we, the people of Tigray, stand tall,
Against the tyranny that seeks our fall.
Each door a fortress, each heart a flame,
We resist, we rise, in Tigray’s name.
Our spirit unbroken, our resolve like steel,
In every room, a story they’ll feel.
For Mekelle’s soul is fierce and free,
No army’s might can silence our plea.
From house to house, from street to street,
They’ll find resistance, defiance complete.
For in our veins, the fire burns,
A legacy of freedom that never turns.
Let the world witness, let justice hear,
The cries of Mekelle, steadfast, clear.
Against the darkness, we stand as one,
Tigray’s struggle, a battle not yet done.
Cry for Aid
From Mekelle’s halls, a cry resounds,
A university in ruins, where learning once bound.
Bombs fell like thunder, from skies so dark,
Ethiopian air force, leaving a stark mark.
With voice so strong,
Calls out to the world, righting the wrong.
“Universities, hear us, in our dire need,
Support our call, let compassion lead.”
Cease-fire, the plea, from a war-torn heart,
To halt the violence, to make a new start.
Tigray bleeds, under a relentless sky,
Yet in our struggle, we
Imprint
Publisher: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Publication Date: 07-15-2024
ISBN: 978-3-7554-7982-6
All Rights Reserved
Dedication:
his book is a tribute to the strength of Tigray's people, a chronicle of their struggles and triumphs.