my window grants me the vista
of a garden sublime
my TV is a window to the shadow
side of our time
when the sun sets and the darkness
deepens outside, inside I watch

the rise of the US-made puppet monsters
Taliban, Saddam, Osama, creed mobsters
war on Western infidels of cabals in corporations
confrontations with the master of subjugation
war of the two evils, one hexed by money
the other paradise

I open the window to the morning garden
of lilies and spice
salute the tabby of the alleyway
carefree and silver, safe from the TV
night news of all things evil
from sacred war of plane hijackers

of jihad doctrine to Bush doctrine
of Big Brother and big Oil
raided soil in turmoil
taken lands of proud people
imploded hopes, exploded heads
in ripped open houses

bunker-busters burning children
to ashes in crowded markets
choked throats trying to howl
horrified eyeballs sighting
precision-guided arms
above ablaze suicide bombers

and I look at my open hands
that could either soothe or slap
that could leave my window forever
open to the garden
and I close for now
the dark window of the TV set

weary of the absurd and nauseated
by fabricated fears of half truths
double talks in quagmires
friendly fires and body bags
price tags on Mid-East designed genocide
fierce fanatics and corporate side

carving the wicked curbs
of the shadow side
of our time.

2004, Azadeh Azad