And then, the Baath flew away

When the Syrian regime found itself cornered lately, it agreed to listen to its Russian Godfather and removed the 8^th. Article of the constitution which limits the political leadership in Syria in the hands of one party only, the Baath party. It is the same party which orchestrated the coup of March 8, 1963 with the hope of leading the political arena in the country. But after a few years, and contrary to what it planned, it became a puppet in the hands of the military establishment first, then the Assad family later. Its ‘leadership’ job thereafter was limited to applauding the ‘Ultimate Leader’!

What draws the attention here is that no one from the party dares to challenge that constitutional amendment, and this proves the fact that this party was nothing but a joke.

And then, the Baath flew away

An end of a coward party

The Baath came yesterday

On the back of a tank

The Baath flew today

On the wings of a fly

***

Sorry comrades (Baathists) but

You were never in control

You never were visionaries, but

You were always a herd of watchers

In the best circumstances, you were

A band of drum and trumpet players

The military always plays the tambourine

And you were their best dancers

Some times, they ordered you to sleep on your

Left cheek, some times, on your right cheek

They always prepared the speeches for you

And pushed you to the stages to say them

But when the razor reached their chins

They turned it to your necks without hesitation

With a single pen move, they erased you from the constitution

With a single pen move, you became outdated

They thought they would save themselves

From the wrath of the people if they sacrifice you

The conferences you thought you organized, were

Conferences organized to force you to attend

The meetings you invited others to attend

You yourselves were obligated to attend

Do you remember what they did to your leaders?

What happened to your comrades, the establishers?

They assassinated some and sent some to jail and exile

And they called all of them “conspirators”

You didn’t deliver unity, freedom or socialism

For half a century you were just clappers

Your polices with your people were

That of dragging their forehead in mud

Your wars with your enemies were

Similar to Don Quixote’s wars with the wind mills

When the airplane of one of you was hijacked to Israel

Israelis were optimistic of a valuable hunt

But when they only found him, they sent him back ‘unthankfully’

They said they didn’t need clowns

That is who you are and who you always were

Failure was the only thing you succeeded in

The military kept you around just to hide behind you

With money, they made you their slaves and followers

But today, as everyone’s mask was dropped

They dropped you in the trash with no regret

***

Poetry by: Tarif Youssef-Agha

An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer and Poet

Houston, Texas

Friday 6 April 2012

http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry