It’s a Shame
By Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi
Dubai
It’s a shame
That we can watch our brothers and sisters,
Mothers and fathers,
Children of humanity
Burned to ashes, swept out to sea, withering from starvation and disease
But feel it’s better to change the channel
And make another cup of tea
It’s a shame
It’s a shame
That when we gather together at midnight vigils
And raise our voices against injustice
We receive only a blurb on page 22
Or 15 seconds of fame
Before the camera moves on
It’s a shame
It’s a shame
That a piece of cloth
Can create a wall between people
More lasting than any structure built by human hands
And determine instantaneously the piety in a woman’s heart
Or the oppression that she must be facing
It’s a shame
It’s a shame
That the faces of terror are easily identified
Easily characterized,
Easily immortalized,
Easily recognized,
But not so easily distinguished
Between those that are terrorists and those that are terrified
It’s a shame
God, Mother Earth, Father Time, Allah, Yahweh, Khuda, Dios, Gud, Dieu, Lord
The Beneficent, the Merciful
The most beautiful Names are His
He offered Choice to the Heavens and the Earth,
And to the mountains
But they refused it and were afraid of it
We, human beings,
We accepted it
We accepted it
We accepted it...
It’s a shame
