Rojava

Listen to me, friends, from New York to California
Consider for a moment Sulaymaniyah
The last city volunteers would often see before
They hiked over the mountain and joined the war
For the freedom of the people of Rojava

The enclave defended by RPG’s and guns
Wielded by Rojava’s daughters and sons
Along with scores of those who have come from far and near
Who learned to fire mortars so they could fight right here
For the freedom of the people of Rojava

What makes a person go from Occupy Wall Street
To marching through the desert with blisters on their feet
To risk life and liberty to face Islamic State
Knowing that martyrdom would likely be their fate
For the freedom of the people of Rojava

Something worth defending isn’t hard to find
But not many will go off and leave their homes behind
To go train on the mountain with the YPG
To go join somebody’s struggle out of solidarity
For the freedom of the people of Rojava

The blood of many folk has been spilled along the way
Including several anarchists from the USA
So remember Robert Grodt and Michael Israel
Paolo Todd, Jordan MacTaggart – how they lived and how they fell
For the freedom of the people of Rojava