Was it the crime of the state,

Or the state of the crime

That has my body, soul, and mind

Suspended in air;

Awaiting the moment,

Dreading the time,

That will mark its descent to the ground

With a thud;

Like the thud of a bomb,

Like the thud of a rifle butt,

Thumping against the head of a child,

Or the head of a mother,

Or the head of a shaykh…

There must be a mistake,

Because nothing can remain,

Forever…

Suspended in air;

Like a suspended sentence

against the politicians

Who suspended their reason,

And suspended their morality,

Suspended responsibility;

Like Hitler’s henchmen

Claimed at Nuremberg

That they suspended their reason,

Suspended their morality,

Suspended responsibility…

Hence, it was a crime of the state.

They were only following orders.

However, when the state of the crime

Reveals itself,

Reveals its stench,

Reveals its horror…

Like the naked men,

Stripped of their clothes

By the naked soldiers,

Stripped of their humanity…

Like the naked truth,

Stripped of the mendacity

Of the naked state,

Stripped of its raison d’être

By the naked politicians,

Stripped of the naked excuse

That they were only following…

The naked money,

Of the naked lobbyists,

Stripped of responsibility

By their inability to recognize

The state of the crime.

Hence, their willingness

To be complicit

In the crime of the state.

Until war is no more,

Butchering innocents is no more,

The war machine is no more,

Bought-off politicians are no more,

Amoral lobbyists are no more,

States pretending to be God are no more,

My body, soul, and mind

Remain,

forever…

Suspended in air

Awaiting the moment,

Dreading the time,

That will mark its descent to the ground

With a thud…

Like the thud of a bomb,

Like the thud of a rifle butt,

Thumping against the head of a child,

Or the head of a mother,

Or the head of a shaykh…

In Gaza.

One day

The world

Will recognize that

The state of this crime

Is the crime of that state.

© 2024 New Islamic Directions ™

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