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October 29, 2004
Brain candy by guest poet Mr. E.
Baghdad, 4 October, 2003
by Mr. E. Poet
Note: This is my attempt to deal with some of the ambivalence I am dealing with regarding the current occupation in Iraq. This is not to say that I disagree with the action taken there. But it is of some value to look at the other point of view.
Rockets flew above my head
And thunder followed on their heels.
Fear has long ago been replaced by
Acceptance of what is, and is to come.
“If only,” I thought, as the night closed in,
A warm, dark blanket of night falling
On my shoulders, calling me to rest.
“If only those fellows had CNN,
Or someone to tell them we have already won.”
But, in a quiet moment,
In the still of the night,
A question comes to mind.
How would I feel if it were my land
And I were the one who had lived through the lies?
How would I feel, with the tanks on my streets
And my churches in ruins in front of my eyes?
Night resolves to morning,
and the thermonuclear blossom
brings another day,
full of the promises
of a brighter future.
But I have heard promises in abundance
Of food, and of safety,
And of better lives for my sons.
A man with many guns once said
he had the better way.
Then a man with 2 sons, with many guns
imposed on us his way.
Now many men with guns in hands
have claimed they know the way
What is the way?
Who knows the way?
Is there a way?
For many months they have been here
And will stay for many more.
They have taken
The splendid palaces
And the vineyards have gone to waste.
While in my city
My father’s land
I cannot roam as I please.
Men with rifles,
Men with tanks
Ask for my papers daily.
They offer work, and offer pay
But the work is to fix
That which they destroyed.
They offer water
And electricity
Which we had before they arrived.
And what is this Democracy?
What is this Federalism?
I am a man, and a simple man.
All whom I know are simple men.
Who are we to choose
How our nation will be led?
There will come a day when I must choose.
Already I have been asked.
I have delayed for now, but soon enough
My sons will be asked as well.
Where will my allegiance stand?
Whom will I believe?
For it has been so long
Since I have believed
Anything.
Day follows night, and night follows day.
Man builds one home, and destroys another,
And each man,
Sure in his heart that he abides
In the Shadow of the Almighty
Continues his Jihad/Crusade.
There is nothing new
Under the sun.
Posted by Dan at October 29, 2004 04:54 PM
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