As I watched the invasion and occupation of Iraq unfold, I found it impossible not to read between the lines. American citizens had no say on the matter. The corporate-funded Bush administration saw an opportunity to profiteer, and did so without hesitation, remorse, or apology. For me it was impossible not to feel disgusted by it all.
Conflicts
Enlightened nations strive to finalize the fighting;
Corrupted countries seek to formalize the fighting.
Our eyes are shocked by sparks that fabricate a tyrant;
Plantations build machines that specialize the fighting.
In armchair comfort, watch desultory announcements,
As new and modern methods socialize the fighting.
These stucco walls are filled with countless indentations
Where urban drive-by shootings normalize the fighting.
In air-conditioned rooms with ornamental index,
Fat pashas point to maps and analyze the fighting.
We must protect our rights to unfettered consumption;
Such senseless words are used to moralize the fighting.
There waving on the wind in arrogant defiance,
The stars and bloody stripes now symbolize the fighting.
Those ancient words of peace are converted for battle;
Religious reasons rise and catalyze the fighting.
A single life, Zahhar, exemplifying stillness,
A thousand years from now may neutralize the fighting.
This is my 119th ghazal.
