Shame on you Mr Powell!

This piece of poetry written by my husband Nabil in 2002, was in response to the irreverence shown to the US secretary of state Powell on his visit to Israel and his acceptance thereof! It is still relevant today, just substitute any name you would like in the place of Mr. Powell ... lots to chose from!

Shame on you Mr. Powell!
by Nabil Sawalha
We had hopes for you Mr. Powell!
When you joined the WASP’s big white family.
We hoped you’d be a different addition, a human face
And not just another hired hand,
like a soldier for the clan, from Sicily.
We thought you’d stand up and say ‘I have a dream’
To help the poor, the occupied,
a fireman’s rope
To restore some dignity and self-esteem,
And at the end of a dark tunnel be a beacon,
a ray of hope.

Shame on you Mr Powell!
We thought you’d visit Sharon’s new Shatilla, Jenin;
Instead you did Sharon’s bidding and became his boy, his owl
A fool on a border mission in occupied Lebanon,
another sad scene.
This land of struggle and suffering
Thanks to all your guns, tanks, cluster bombs, F16s
and the deadly hovering
raised its head to you with hope to reduce the mothers’ suffering;
To stop the murder and help a child forget the pain,
the mad hammering.

Shame on you Mr Powell!
We hoped your people’s struggle
would help you carry for humanity a flame
To rouse a new world order of consciousness
where truth and love are not afraid
To rise like a phoenix out of the flames of oppression and hate.
Yet sadly we only found another agent
leaving us with the stench of blame.
We hoped you’d extend a kind hand to a limbless mum,
a homeless child,
You’d free the church, rebuild the mosque,
clear the tank and release the prisoner
You’d reign in the dogs of war,
the rabid soldier, the bomber, the wild;
To help the Palestinian and Jewish mother,
hug her child, smell the flower.

Shame on you Mr Powell!
We thought you and Bush would be men of destiny
In this torn up world, make peace, spread the harmony
Not petty employees with a big salary;
Pawns in the claws of the Zionist lobby.
Amman, Jordan
18 April 2002