Just Ur Average American Suicide Bomber

A student's journey into the world of campus manipulation.

Where the sun was ornery and the days were warm
I spent my initial years on a Virginian farm
While amorous passions, in my pals’ hearts, burnt bright
I devoted myself to books throughout the night

Sam was crazy, Ruth was witty
Tim could at any time belt out a ditty
Joshua was daring, Frank was, well, frank
We often met in the Prim Priscilla and talked and drank

My friends were colorful, I was grim
But I too drank my liquor till I was full to the brim
They respected me some, but mostly thought I was odd
I didn’t care as long as I was right with the lord

Life was simple, life was good
But I was never content with how it stood
That I was smart, everybody knew
But that I was ambitious, I revealed to few

A slice of my pals’ private lives was there for the taking
Their troublemaking, their merrymaking, their lovemaking
Easily away from it all, I myself tore
Coz my eyes were set on a different shore

The school library was my favorite place
To devour the books, the librarian thought, I was in a race
There will be a time for love, there will be a time for living, I told my heart
And when the results were announced, it gave the little town a start

An academic performance like mine had never been seen before
I had excelled in school in debates and oratory furthermore
Together, I thought it gave me a good shot at reaching that distant shore
What finally happened would forever write me in the sleepy town’s lore

I was accepted at Columbia on a full scholarship
Sustained rigor, a lifetime of keeping my mind in my grip
Had landed me in the hallowed grounds, I was destined to reach
The walls that birth had put around me, I always meant to breach

Friends from places like Denver, Philadelphia, and New York
Shakespeare and Einstein over delicious beef and pork
There were students from Europe and Australia, and from Asia too
The heart had arrived, the mind was in place, and time swiftly flew

There were so many wonderful subjects to choose from
In lecture halls, a delicious clashing of brains was the norm
Then there were sports and extracurriculars
I, sometimes, felt like a lilliput among Gullivers

The professors and the students were prodigies all
I couldn’t help but wonder if was fumbling the ball
But, to my surprise, I managed to hold my own
From an early age, I had taken care my mind to hone

Two years passed. I was happy. We were friends all.
In a distant land was ringing loud war’s call
It had nought to do with us, I thought, and carried on
But in the university, a new era had come to dawn

Suddenly, the professor of history was talking about the system’s rot
The professor of polity was expounding on the nefarious Western colonial plot
The professor of geography was drawing lines to lament a nation robbed
The professor of literature read a poem about the plight of the oppressed and sobbed

Initially, I wondered at the strangeness of it all
With the govt., it felt like, we were preparing for a brawl
There were many new faces in the faculty, and there were some old
Most had surnames like Khan, Aziz, Rehman, and Hadid, and told us to be bold

There were also rumors that the University was financed by Qatar’s money
I knew of the black mark that was Qatar among nations, even in Virginia sunny
They strip searched women at airports at gun point when a baby was found at its airport
Their channel, Al-Zazeera plugged radicalism, and in the nation, terrorists held court

However, all that was pushed to the back of the mind
The professors told us the fate of the world rested with our kind
The friends I looked up to, the professors I had revered
They were all of one mind; it was time we took hold of the wheel and steered

Resistance had to be mounted, resistance at all costs
Sometimes, the professors directed us, sometimes, let us connect the dots
Not all students were equal; there were the ones who belonged to the oppressors’ race
They were not to be allowed to corrupt our institution, full of righteousness and grace

We were learning a new language: violence
We aimed for nothing less than their silence
While we chanted loud and clear, “From the river to the sea”
We barred them from entering and, on the walls, spraypainted victory’s V

At first, there was an impasse, but soon, we had our way
We were taught to turn them away, come what may
We pushed, we beat, we threatened with rape and death
They were animals, disgusting oppressors, undeserving of fellow feeling, even a breath

There were outliers, but, mostly, we had our way
They were few, we were many, and we were here to stay
Sympathy is Western condescension, we were told
Empathy is the way for the moral and bold

We must live like they do
We must suffer like they do
We must hate like they do
We must resist like they do

Over the university grounds, encampments were made
Total commitment was to shape resistance’s blade
We broke, we destroyed, we vandalized
We pushed back, we took over, we ostracized

Keeping out their students and professors was our pride
As it should be, the university authorities were on our side
Throughout it all, to the curriculum, I rigorously applied my mind
Still, it was surprising, summa cum laude, to find myself graduating, find

At the graduation ceremony, finally, my name was called
I was a hardened soldier; in fury rather than anxiety, my fists were balled
I took my place at the podium and looked at my comrades with a grin
I smashed my fist at the lectern and yelled, “Free Palestine!”

That was the moment I committed my suicide bombing
It’s a realization that dawned after, of the later evidence, doing a thorough combing
“What did you bomb?” my father, who was looking in the distance, slowly turns and asks with a haunted face
A lifetime of integrity, a life lived on the straight and narrow, my and other students’ souls’ grace