Terms to Live

You have to lock your doors and kill time,
until I bomb you, your home too.
You are not allowed to hide from view;
you have to admire my US-blessed
gunfire.
My aim is to make you feel dispossessed
and without help, a million times.
You are not allowed to find a new shelter,
and if you do, I’ll blow it up likewise,
and you.
You are only admitted to live on streets,
alleyways, or in camps I will fume,
in due time.
You are not allowed to defend yourself;
you have to feel spineless,
till you become without a spine.
You are not allowed to protect your kids,
they belong on streets, theyre mine,
to gun down.
You are not allowed to call for an ambulance,
if you pulled through from my shooting,
you should decay from suffering.
You are not allowed to speak of the past,
the past is History, and History is
what I say, publicly.
But you are allowed to speak of the future,
only if you follow through, my rules.
And if you can speak, never in Arabic,
the language of terrorism
I work on eradicating.
You are not allowed to ask for international
protection; I must not ruin the look I
worked very hard to put on.
But you are allowed to call for Arab protection,
because you’ll always remain without one.
To finish, you are not allowed to make a living,
because you are not supposed to be alive.
And now, you have to sign;
You don’t, I take your life.
by Elissar W. Haikal