IMAGINARY ENEMIES: award winner

IMAGINARY ENEMIES: award winner



The US imagines that
Others are enemies,
If those others don't follow
The US policies.

Way back it was Vietnam,
And then, Afghanistan.
Later, Iraq was victim
of the grand US plan.

The US has but one point,
Told by Bush quite clearly:
Those not friends of the US
Must pay for it dearly.

The US imagined that
Vietnam, though distant,
Was its enemy and there
Its marines it then sent.

The US dropped bombs on huts
To give a sound defeat
To communists but, in shame,
Beat a hasty retreat.

"Afghanistan's enemy"
It went on to profess,
Since Osama lived there, though,
Propped up by the US!

It then bombed Afghanistan
After nine eleven,
Though Saudi Arab was
The highjackers' haven.

Saudis were fourteen of
Nineteen plane highjackers
Of the nine eleven fame,
The root of all matters.

Saudi Arab is the
Best friend of the US,
Since it barters cheap oil, though,
Freedom does it suppress.

Then the US imagined
Iraq as enemy
And to convince himself, Bush
Dreamed up WMD.

I don't know of a single
Iraqi incident,
That's inimical against
The US president.

Kudos to the US, it
Conjures up enemies.
How I wish the US could
Amend its policies!


* Written in abcb, 7-6-7-6 format.

* Awarded second prize in item (now deleted)1187593, "News Desk: Contest", First round. This contest required that the poem be built upon a news item in a newspaper. The above poem was inspired by the news item in Times of India, dated 15 December 2006, which reads:

"IRAQ ENEMY IS FAR FROM BEING DEFEATED:BUSH-US president George Bush on Wednesday said the enemy in Iraq is "far from being defeated," but he vowed not to be rushed into adjusting his strategy and gave little indication that he intends to veer sharply from the direction his war policies have taken".

* It was earlier posted as entry 475387 in the book "WAR POETRY--award winner" . Posted as independent item on 10 April 2007


M C Gupta
15 December 2006