European Union: A Halal Bildungsroman

Poland strives to keep its independence in an Islamic dystopia

My wife looks at my pale eyes while tying my tie
“Before long, you will wonder you were worried why”
They will increase the tax again
My protests will have been in vain

As it is, we can hardly pay it
But I can’t go against their writ
She pats me firmly on the chest
“We all know you are doing your best

And we will make do
Deal with the evil they brew”
I swallow my unease and give her a tight smile
Before I am back, it will be a while

My bodyguards are relaxed as I enter my car
The danger to me is from here very far
In my reverie, I see how we reached to this place
Initially, it was the liberals my predecessors had to face

They couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t do as they would
They requested and heckled and told us to do what we should
See in their minds, they were on the side of good
They didn’t care as to how our views stood

But my predecessors drew the line
They let the liberals impose on us the fine
The good of the nation was bigger than feeling good
It was bigger than the simple morality that preach they would

Then they disappeared, the liberals, made extinct by the people they let in
Then it was them sitting across us, punishing us for our “sin”
They wanted inside my country, and I wouldn’t let them
They would have killed me if it would have been different with another person at the helm

But long ago, we had seen the writing on the wall
They knew none of us would play ball
So, here I was once again entering the hallowed hall
It was beyond me to refuse duty’s call

I could sense the hatred coursing through the room
The others would in skull caps and pajama kurtas themselves groom
I was one of the very few in a suit walking inside
The barely inaudible cursing was too much to abide

I reached the country plate that read “Poland” and took my seat
Azaan was played on loudspeakers, and I felt as if my face was singed by heat
Chants of Allahu-Akbar filled the European Union, and triumphantly, they smirked
I tried to keep my face impassive, but I couldn’t trust the anger that underneath lurked

I took my pen in my hand and pushed on its button; a sharp point emerged
I drove it into my thigh; the pain kept me from exhibiting rebellion, as my face they intently searched
One wrong move, and they would pounce
Without a thought, they would ravage cities and towns

France says, twirling its beard, “We have repeatedly asked you to take our people in, in vain”
And you have increased the jizya (tax on infidels) each time, much to our pain
We are at our breaking point; we can’t pay it anymore
“You won’t have to, as we will take over your nation if you resist, for sure”

I put my pen in my pocket, kick back my chair, get up, and start for the door
Germany doesn’t like it, “Where are you going? We have to say more”
I have heard what I needed to hear. Excuse me, I have to prepare for a war
Turkey leans back in his chair, “Without our wish, you won’t get far”

If you want to kill me, this is as good a place as any, I say without breaking my stride
Spain spits, “When we are marching across Warsaw, we will see how fares your pride”
There are subtle sounds of a couple of other chairs scraping
The other two people in suits are, toward the exit, their way making

Hungary pushes open the door along with me
“It’s time we also this building forever flee”
Shouldn’t you be more careful not to give them offense?
Czech Republic replies from behind, “They will come for us next. Time for defense”

We grimly get in our cars, each hurrying to prepare for their assignation with fate
I ring the chief of the armed forces and tell her to prepare for war in an urgency great
It’s a long drive, and I find myself thinking of the Europe of the past
First, they came begging, fleeing despotic regimes and terrorist states vast

The politicians talked of “humanity,” and “duty,” and in their capitals of Europe, they were placed
They were given comfort and security, and with culture training, they were graced
But they refused to assimilate, they kept to their clothing and culture, and were soon changing the landscape
They soon started protesting against the West; they looted, they vandalized, they raped, they killed; it was all on tape

While yesterday they were happy to be accepted inside after torturous journeys, today they termed the West as “decadent” and “colonizer”
But the liberals, they just kept giving ground; introspection and recrimination was the order of the day, and it was too late before anybody was any wiser
There were now too many of them; they were encouraged to have their own leaders in the parliament, thinking that would contain the lawlessness among them
“It’s only that they don’t relate to us,” the liberals said. The leftists who wanted to tear down the system found in them easy allies. Their only mistake was in thinking they could control them

At first, they and their leaders were cautious about how they were the liberals using
Protesting against the wars in distant lands where Muslim leaders were losing
The authorities gave in: it was just harmless protest against distant lands
But they were getting organized and were increasing their demands

Now they wanted Sharia law in the neighborhoods they were dominant in
Their leaders, who had learnt to wax eloquent in European languages, gave them this win
Pork was banned; women were told to dress modestly lest they give them offense or worse desire
Despite all this, Europe was in bombings wracked; the rise of right-wing parties was the only way to douse this fire

Liberals of all stripes came together to fight this “tremendous evil”
Forgotten were bitter differences, and they all in a hurry became civil
Money from oil-rich Muslim nations poured in to support the liberal coalition
Right-wing parties lost after initial successes, and the nations lost their volition

In the streets and in the parliaments, tremendously, the Muslim influence increased
The gates were thrown wide open to Muslim immigration and soon vast numbers it reached
Among the Muslims, there were skilled orators and politicians who could almost look Western
The natives voted for them, but the Muslims always voted for only Muslims; the West soon started looking like countries Eastern

For the liberals, the cities became colorful and exotically groomed
Mosques abounded, women roamed in burqas, and bazaars selling Eastern delicacies mushroomed
The curriculum was heavily influenced by Muslim politicians; the young Europeans were ashamed of their past
The only way to avoid clashes and riots was to ban right-wing groups; giving more and more space to the Muslims was the key to building a peace that would last

Soon, they were taking over, in the parliaments and the streets; sharia law was to be for all
At first, the leftists directed Muslims; then they went along with them; then they started following them; the West was in free fall
Those who resisted met bitter ends; the crimes were brutal, horrendous, and redolent of the barbarity of Eastern nations
The West had been taken over, but the leftist liberals blamed the crimes on Western provocations and doomed the Western nations

Their dresses became everybody’s dresses, which was soon followed by their religion becoming everybody’s religion
You see, they always had one code, one vision: the Muslim religion was the only true religion
Then we were facing them in the European Union, and they turned their lustful gaze toward us, the ones who had denied
Now they were coming for us; their purpose, their mandate, which they had always known at the back of their minds, had been to take over and spread their religion far and wide

Outside the armed forces headquarters, my car comes to a stop
Soon as I step inside, the alarm bells start ringing, and to their duties, the personnel hop
“We are being attacked on all fronts”
The chief of staff looks at me and grunts

To the West, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium
To the East, the Baltic nations, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, and Turkey
To the North, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland
To the South, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Ljubljana, Bosnia, and Serbia

Annihilation is coming and coming fast
Our forces are stretched too thin, and not for long will they last
To think that this nation in my time will fall
And yet, I would never have made a different call

Something strange happens, though, and it is beyond grand
Large parts of their martial forces start firing at them; scores of civil wars start at the borders of Poland
The rebels are the ones far more proficient in battle
The ones who stay loyal are mowed down like cattle

Later, I learn their identities, and it’s no surprise
The forced converts had rebelled in war’s guise
The native Muslims were being decimated
How the Muslim leaders seeing this must have hated

But their hatred is beyond our imaginations
Missiles fly toward us from the nuclear-powered nations
We see the approaching doom on the screens in a volatile mixture of emotions
That we didn’t let the great evil of our times take us alive is foremost among the notions

Then the missiles start exploding in the air, far above and well beyond our borders
The forces of Israel, to defend us, have the orders
One of the few non-Muslim countries in the wider world has come to our aid
A country that, in fighting Muslim nations for a century, its bones has made

We are winning; the Muslim forces in control are as inept in nuclear warfare
As they had been proven lacking in mettle in traditional warfare
There is a long way to go before we rack up wins
But on our faces, for the first time in decades, there are grins