The colours of the Kurdish spring are three :
Green, red,
yellow. People say they are the green of mountains, the
red of flowers in
the mountains when it is spring, and the sun when it is spring.
In
Kurdistan, these colours are banned, like language, music, and Kurdish
people in general. But is it possible to ban the mountains, the
flowers and sun ? People say too that they are the colours of
the Kurdish mountains,
of pain and blood, the
fire of war on mountains : Green,
red, yellow.
These colours have been hunt down everywhere in Kurdistan
: in the traffic lights, in the wood stoles of children, in the saddlebags
of mulets. They hunt the colours, they change the traffic
lights, they tear the children's stoles, they beat the mulets.
But green, red, yellow are everywhere.
For the New Year, people dance in the streets. The first
day of the year is banned too, but no matter ! Like the Kurds saved by Kawa
the Smith, at least for this day, they should dance. And Kurds dance but
they know th at at the end, for all that, Zohak will catch them.
The Kurds dance their round and around soldiers observe.
Fire or not fire ? Fire ?
One year, a young teenager, going mad by the spring, hold
a three-couloured silk, green, red,
yellow, and turned round and round,
flower of mountains, sphere of light, meteor, fired-bird brighter than the
Simurgh, therre colours, fragile top, target, target,
target.
Is it possible to kill the mountains, the
flowers, the
sun ? Yes, it is. The soldier shot the dancer fell. A rain of fire and
blood
on the mountains, the flowers, the
sun. The boy fell down and didn't get up. Green,
red and yellow tarnished and blended with dust and
blood.
Sandrine Alexie