There is a Wild River Before Me

There is a wild river before me, and a thousand falls

Pouring, pouring, breaking up all the resilient walls,

Lightning strikes, piercing through my heart,

Carving out a letter to set me apart

And I run to a shelter, only to find

The shelter is an ocean

And the ocean and river are intertwined

There is no where to go

There is no where to hide

And I fall to my knees,

With my carved out heart and broken dreams

Screaming, someone, anyone help me find

My home, my world, my peace

But all I find are maps, oil, guns, and machines

Drones drilling death a thousand miles deep

Bombs bursting babies a thousand angels apart

Missiles missing murderers and striking mosques

Police putting peace in prison and choking life

Politicians preaching plans to topple regimes they put in place

Funding fresh factions to finish-off former friends

All in the name of peace

All in the name of freedom

All in the name of God

With the last few breaths I have left

My voice fragile, my heart bereft

I voice a declaration to my dying human race

That in the course of human events

When the heartless seek to conquer our hearts

And the heedless lead our nations and mosques,

When politicians are just a tool,

For the rich and powerful to use as a mule

To carry out their tainted wishes

Cover up their tracks and build up their riches

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That the pen is mightier than the sword

That the Creator of the ocean is greater than the Ocean and all that it can hold

That a loving smile of a child can halt a bomb

That the single word of a righteous scholar is holier than the sermon of a rogue imam

That when the typhoon of ignorance

Seeks to engulf us in its dark hole

We take shelter under the loving wing of none

Other than the Creator, the Sustainer, the Ever Living One

And we declare, with our hearts, with our tongues, with our souls

That we will march on until we reach our final goals

Love, peace, and justice for all

-- AK