With stories we build a nation

With stories we build a nation
out of separate villages, we clench the years
together to a proof of divine power:

the crossing of the border river
the access town with trumpet blasts
destroyed forever, the country cleaned
from high to low, in one sweep
like a dinner plate

With stories I justify
myself and the past afterwards
plans for the future included

Daily, words bind us
together to a nation state
If we were silent, that would be the end
also if we would dare
to tell the truth

of the people who lived here before us