Reclamation

I’m reclaiming the phrase ‘God is great’
‘Allahu akbar’ from the ones who hate
The words I recite every single day
Every time I turn to God and start to pray
Praying for clarity in a world of confusion
Praying for sanity in a world of delusion.
Every single day and another calamity
Another family, another tragedy
But you and I are still far more protected
Than the ones in Syria, far worse affected
By bombs from ‘them’ and bombs from ‘us’
Who should they turn to? Who can they trust?

I look to the East and I’m embarrassed at the sight
Of muslim leaders engaged in a fight
Against each other and against their people
Is holding on to power really worth this evil?

I look to the West and I’m embarrassed at the sight
Of powerful leaders leading a fight
To isolate their countries after the havoc they’ve wreaked
Racism, xenophobia, the outlook is bleak.

I see far-right fury over ‘Islamification’
‘A backward religion taking over this nation’
Don’t worry, friend, i’m not here to colonise
Nor disenfranchise, not to terrorise
Like the Europeans did less than a century ago
Funny how we don’t talk about that though.
If we looked a little deeper we would surely see
The roots of this madness lie in history
Government policies, agendas so derogatory
ineffective responses to the inequality.
When the poor get poorer the rich lay the blame
Usually with those who don’t look the same
Easier to blame them than face the truth
That the poor are poorer due to corruption and abuse
Of a system that itself seems rotten to the core
A system that repeatedly legitimises war
Justifies death as ‘collateral damage’
Saviours need to feel they’re fighting a savage.
How else can they feel morally superior?
They set the standard, design the criteria
So they always win, even when they’re wrong
Making up the rules as they go along.
A paradigm that privileges only a few
Hence Blair roams free, and Bush does too
No laws to bind them
No courts to try them
No framework exists to punish their crimes
So we wait for God to judge as He will do in time
For ‘God is great’ and I’m reclaiming that phrase
The one that gets me through these crazy days.
(July 2016)