Poetry

A Poetry Memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia (PEN)

by Chris Murray

Invocation

i.m Daphne Caruana Galizia

It was not love that planted the bomb,
it was not infatuation that led to my pursuit.
It was not love that forever changed me,
taking me away from them, my children.

It was a different kind of annihilation–
Daphne of legend, naiad, nymph of blessed
places, garnered for Apollo a laurel-wreath
when she fled his pursuit.

i.m Daphne Caruana Galizia, make me a place,
wreath me in laurels for the words I gave to you,
in rosemary for remembrance.

Make a grove of laurels for me, cooling trees.
Put them somewhere that is beyond his taking,
beyond his touch.

A shaded place for remembering, bring flowers there.

© C. Murray

I would like to thank Sahar Halaimzai for including my poem, which can be read here or with all the other poems on the PEN International Poetry Memorial Wall dedicated to Daphne Caruana Galizia.  

 

From the PEN International website

A memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valetta has been repeatedly destroyed by the authorities. In response, PEN International has devised a poetry memorial as a tribute to her courage and her dedication to freedom of expression.

 Today marks two years since the brutal assassination of Malta’s best-known investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Although three men have now been formally charged with her murder, a date for their trial has yet to be set while those who ordered her killing remain at large.

Irish Times

 Today is the second anniversary of the shocking murder of Maltese journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia. That afternoon, she posted a blog stating that the situation in Malta was desperate and drove away from her home. Within minutes, a bomb that had been planted under her car exploded, killing her. She had been under threat for a considerable time because of her work exposing corruption in Maltese society and politics.

 Two years later, three men have been charged with her murder but no trial date has been set, nor have the people who instigated the crime been identified. Authorities in Malta have only recently announced that they will set up an inquiry. However, Caruana Galizia’s family and many international free-expression campaign groups continue to call for a completely independent and impartial inquiry, as they have done since the day of her assassination. (read here)