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 8th. 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With a single pen move, you became outdated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