"Get Out of Our Way"

Recently, a Yemeni man became a "WhatsApp" sensation when a short 2:19 minute mobile video of a his street performance was uploaded on social media.  

Though it is a simple poem, and though he is only using a plate for an instrument; it resonated with people, as it is an honest expression of how many feel about today's injustice and how they also console themselves with a dream of a better life and an afterlife in paradise.

Here, I attempt to translate his words (I am not a translator so I didn't do it justice, just trying to get his point across).

Get out of our way,
Get out of our way,
The heaven of love is for us, 
Tall women are for you, short and wide women are for us,
Beauty is for you, and ugliness is for us,
SUV's are for you, and old taxis are for us,
Fire and torment are for you, eternal paradise is for us,
Fire and torment are for you, eternal paradise is for us,
Palaces and villas are for you, and nests and huts are for us,
May God whiten your face [a saying of rapprochement], you who stole our rights,
Millions are for you, and extreme poverty is for us,
Honey and Ghee are for you [expensive items in Yemen], and anchovies and fish are for us [cheaper than other meat and widely available in Yemen],
Get out of our way, you who have tormented our people,
You tormented our people,
Oh how I wish I was a little bird in your roof,
Or a pigeon flying near your window,
Or a bodyguard or a security guard,
Or a bodyguard or a security guard,
I would go with you wherever you want.

*****

بعّدوا من طريقنا 

بعّدوا من طريقنا

جنّة الحب حقنا

البنات الطوال لكم والقصار والعراض لنا

الملاح والجمال لكم والدبش والخشع لنا

الصوالين نصيبكم والتكاسي القدام لنا 

 الحريق والعذاب لكم جنّة الخلد لنا

الحريق والعذاب لكم جنّة الخلد حقنا

القصور والفلل لكم والعشش والدّيم لنا

بيّض الله وجوهكم اللي أكلتوا حقوقنا

الملايين نصيبكم والحرف والطفر لنا

العسل والسمن لكم والوزف والسمك لنا

الملايين نصيبكم والحرف والطفر لنا

العسل والسمن لكم والوزف والسمك لنا

بعّدوا من طريقنا عذّبوا الشعب حقنا

عذّبوا الشعب حقنا

ألا ليتني في جباكم عصفري

ألا وإلا حمامي على الطاقة يطير

ألا وإلا مرافق وإلا عسكري
ألا وإلا مرافق وإلا عسكري

ألا وأسير معك حيثما تشتي تسير