The Ambush - Nimah Ismail 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.

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Nimah Ismail Nawwab [Ni’mah Isma’il Nawwab] (21st century) Saudi Arabia (Born in Malaysia)

Source: UniVerse