Living In the Middle East

You put him in a cage That pilot you shot down Pour gasoline on him And set him ablaze And the world is silent... That seventeen year old girl Writhes on that soiled bed As you let all those other men Rape her after you're done She dies from the bleeding And the world is silent.... You hold a sword to their throats Ask them if they will recant Siblings, they hold on to each other Young children of a faith not your own They stand firm They won't recant And so you slit their throats like sheep Who is there to weep? And the world is silent You hold up decapitated heads then hand them to your children to hold Bloodied hair clutched in tiny hands Then you drop the heads to the ground And play football with them And the world is silent.... I will not be silent Here I stand The atrocities demand A willing hand To write A willing voice To speak To seek Justice.... Refuge.... A better way... A better life.... HOPE... Here I stand Here I speak Here I write Here I WRITE.... The world can no longer remain SILENT! Eileen Manassian It's so sad. People have such high ideals. People speak of democracy. People disparage dictatorships, but set up and fund and provide weapons for the very people who carry out these atrocities. Look at the mess in Syria. Lebanon went through war after war....I lived in bomb shelters. During the civil war bombs landed on our campus and my brothers and father had to go out during the shelling to try to put out the fires. My friend's father was killed by shrapnel...my brother and sister-in-law were wounded in the bomb blast that killed the prime minister of Lebanon. Who cares about Lebanon? THE WORLD? What does Lebanon have that is of interest...only citrus fruits and olives? Certainly not oil..... And that in itself explains so much. Look at Nicosia, Cyprus....the last divided capital in the world. Who cares? Who speaks out about occupation? Countries defend their allies....regardless of "right and wrong" The Armenian genocide has yet to be recognized by America..... These things may be far removed from many of you, but it is part and parcel of being in this part of the world. Nothing is certain...Unrest is present. Death is lurking. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it? August 10, 2015 *****IMPORTANT ADDITION Since having written this poem I have found out that the son of a friend of mine was kidnapped and held for ransom. Currently, Lebanon does not have a government and so people in the different political parties rule their "kingdoms" as they want. It is thought that these different factions have now turned to kidnapping of the rich to raise funds. Fortunately, my friend is rich and was able to secure her son's freedom. This is the reality of lie here....