Twice Bitten

Neo-imperialist forces betray and bulldoze weaker nations, plundering resources, and then profit from their reconstruction.

Passed I once by two women,
Their sad plight I heard when.
Both fled from the lands of war-
From Karbala, and Kandahar.
Harassed by the hawks,
Gunned by the greedy,
Stoned to Shame, and
Sold to the Selfish.

One said,

“I was once the land of knowledge,
In learning and writing did I indulge.
I was the envy of uncivilized world,
I was the warmth for the nights cold.

As months passed and years elapsed,
The knowledge of Time I had grasped.
I was patient with my sons’ doings,
I survived their every suffering.

But not long ago came the hawks,
Who broke open my chaste locks.

Ah! Death was better,
Than this shameful fetter.

They ruined my honor and shame,
And throw on my children the blame.

And then when I had no breath left,
They planned to make my health fit.

They called upon other birds:
Bid me for the wealthy hands.

No one raised a word of protest,
All found ways to be the richest.

I became the dice on their table,
They bid in ways they were able.

The hawks laughed even as I cried,
The world made money as I healed.”

The other replied,

“Justice is the brag of those in power-
The lot of those who meet in the tower.

We shall wait, however late,
For a new dawn of no hate.

The deaths of Mosul,
The funerals of Kabul.
The rapes of Baghdad,
And tortures of Jalalabad.

Some day,
We shall be heard:
Our misery be to all told.”

Feb 23 2011. Edit Apr 2024