As jailed Bahrain poet Ayat al-Gormezi still waits for her appeal hearing, acclaimed young poet Fatima Al Matar has translated the words that landed her in jail especially for Write Out Loud to highlight her plight, and to keep up the pressure in the campaign to win her release. Gormezi's appeal has now been postponed three times, according to the website Artists Speak Out.  For some, this is raising hopes that she may soon be released. Fatima said: "I was very touched and inspired by Ayat's courage to speak up against injustice and prejudice. In a time when poets are being jailed and tortured for speaking out, it is every other poet's duty to echo their earnest plea for freedom and fairness."

Here are the crucial words that al-Gormezi delivered at a protest rally earlier this year that led to her arest, and one-year jail sentence.  

Al Gormezi begins her poem as follows: 
 

This is a message to he who assumes he will dance upon the pains and wrenches of the people suffering from sectarianism, disorder and chaos¹. This poem addresses the man behind the injustice and prejudice in this country, the ruler of this country himself Hamad². 
 

(Protesters shouting: "Down with Hamad, down with Hamad, down with Hamad") 
 

The poem is a long dialogue between Hamad (the ruler) and the Devil. The Devil, being the source of all evil, is left speechless by the horrors which Hamad has and continues to inflict on his people. The Devil urges Hamad to have mercy on his people and stop the bloodshed, but Hamad refuses to stop the suffering and responses to the Devil as follows: 
 

I still haven’t filled my stomach with their blood

I still haven’t exploited all the riches of this land to benefit myself and my companions

I still haven’t tortured every youngster, every child, every old man,

I still haven’t stepped on their heads in my jails and dungeons.

I will agonise them and open a million doors to ensure their degradation,

I don’t care about the hard-working men and the well-educated,

I will ensure they are jobless, poor, weak and dependent.

They mean nothing to me, they are worthless to me, they are worthless to me ... 
 

(Protesters shouting: "Down with Hamad, down with Hamad, down with Hamad")  
 

Al Gormezi ends her poem by emphasizing on the strong ties between the Sunni and Shia in Bahrain, with repetition always being a method of emphasis in Arabic poetry: 
 

Sunni, Shia we are brothers protected by God.

Sunni, Shia we are brothers protected by God. 
 

She ends her poem with the highly provocative line: 
 

Take my advice Hamad; gather the garbage of your unsuccessful, failed regime and depart

you never lived up to our expectations or the high standards of the good heroic people of this land.   
 

(Protesters shout: "Down with Hamad, down with Hamad, down with Hamad")