Arab Eyes

- by M. Junaid Alam

Glares of the oppressed
Shoot out from shadows writhing
under black war boots strapped on white skin
Arab-dirtied in desert sands.

Rising in the nascent sandstorm
of national struggle
can these angered Arab eyes
these twin towers of Resistance
stare down
buildings stretching into the sky
and empires digging into the (s)oil.

Dark Eyes, yes,
of Bandits, bastards, Ba'athists
of Renegades, rocket-repelled
'Remnants'
of a family
village
city
nation
bombed into oblivion;
Exploding from obsidian
bursting brightly into tears, anguish and
Revolt.

Sorrowful, spiteful eyes stare out
Stinging and soaking in
the fatal fumes of Freedom:
depleted uranium mayhem
cluster killers and
napalm neurotics
released on the breath of
two-bit Crusaders
three-star hotel rats
four-star generals
and five-sided war bureaus
loyal to flags of
blood-stained stripes
and six-sided stars

America!
Look into those Arab eyes, those darkened mirrors!
And weep for our tainted souls
descending down the war path
to a faintly calm doom:
a last hurrah of fireworks
and freedom fries
As we fizzle out in the fires
of nationalist flatulence;
Sizzling deep-fried
to the death-tune
of cascading arrogance.

M. Junaid Alam, 21, of Boston, is co-editor & webmaster of Left Hook. He takes and dishes out the heat at alam@lefthook.org