The Ambush - Poem by Nimah Nawwab

He watched the old movie unfold,
The head-covered man bashing his van into a building,
Nodding his head: ‘Yes another one, they are terrorists,’
The calm way he uttered those words
The look in his young eyes,
Made me ache.

For they had won,
Hands down they had won,
Ultimately they had won,
Their hollow victory turning the world upon itself.

Those demented fanatics have implanted the bitter seeds,
Our young believing that terror is here to stay,
Questioning their identity constantly,
Questioning elements of society, a fact
Could I really answer?
Did I even want to answer?
No justification, no excuse can wipe,
Needless deaths, destruction of innocents,
Not a single life lost could be justified.

The land turned into a big gated occupied territory
The once-peaceful kingdom rent with shootouts,
As the tolerance of our spiritual beliefs
Is hijacked, twisted, used.

Power-hungry zealots
Misguided by the need for vengeance,
Vengeance against perceived,
Unacceptable ways of life,
Those whose hearts have been wiped clean,
Clean of the basic tolerance for fellow man,
A tolerance making the religion thrive,
A spirit attracting billions to the faith,
All dashed on the rocks
In the surging ravaging river of loathing the other.

As the very essence of our faith now stands in danger
Of this ambush from within,
Turning back upon them,
Derailing their intentions
As hate colors their vision of the truth,
That we are all, all, all
Sons and daughters of Adam
That the three faiths,
Our mainstay, our guide
Are interlinked, bonded forever

Sealed by The One
To spread their message of peace for human kind.

May 2004