Published in Overland Issue 217 Summer 2014 · Uncategorized In Memoriam Hashem Shaabani Martin Kovan (Ahwazi Arab poet executed by the Iranian regime, 27 January 2014) We searched you in the hollows And we searched you in the fen We took you down for mercy And we took you down again We heard you’d gone a-roaming And taken up your pen We heard you used the Holy Name And took that Name in vain We saw you in the papers And we heard you in the den We knew you’d gone a-roaming By the treason of your pen We thought we’d show you mercy And let you live again We thought we’d offer clemency If you’d just put down the pen You raised it high against us Stabbed us dead and dead again With your prophecies of freedom That take the Holy Name in vain. We searched you in the hollows And we searched you in the fen We took you down for mercy And we took you down again We found you in the hollows And we found you in the fen And we took you down for mercy So you’ll never rise again. Martin Kovan Martin Kovan is an Australian writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. His short and long-form essays, articles, fiction, poetry, and interviews, have been regularly published in Australia, and in the US, UK, France, Hong Kong, India, and Czech Republic. His philosophical monograph A Buddhist Theory of Killing: a philosophical exposition was published by Springer in 2022. More by Martin Kovan › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 24 April 2024 · History Anzac Day and the half-remembered history of the Anzacs in Palestine Bill Abrahams and Lucy Honan Schools are deliberate targets for government-funded mystification about Australia’s role in wars. Such instances of official remembrance crowd out the realities of war, and the consequences of Australia’s role in imperialism. As teachers, we should strive to resist this, and we should introduce our students to a fuller understanding of the history of the Anzacs. 22 April 2024 · Gaming Game-death in infinite game-worlds: Darkest Dungeon 2 Josie/Jocelyn Suzanne Death is the ultimate stamp of value. It was invented to sell arcade-like 1 Up repetition to the home market. To read politics in videogames is to learn to read necropolitically, which is why gamers don’t like politics.
