We Were Born To Clap By Muhammad Nasrullah Khan, Calgary

Dear First World, Salute to you Accept humble bow, from the Third World. Thank you for the great lectures for fu***ing idiots. Heads hung low, wide-eyed, we clapped. You sold us your notion of humanity, we lived in a barbaric world. You bombed to end the atrocities. The boisterous sound of your missiles came over our heads, we clapped. You sent us tattered clothes, and dried milk, you gifted us stale food. Wow! We clapped. A few of us declined your orders, and ran to caves, we saw burnt bones. Your president called us rats, We clapped. You hanged our leaders, cheered the dictators, crushed skulls, and scarred souls, “Surrender and live,” your president yelled, we clapped. Our women heard the faint screams, and fell to their knees crying, their silent prayers stuck between earth and sky. You were the people of God; we the creeping creatures, we clapped. We grew up applauding you, We forgot who we were, Our heroes bled in silence, Our haggard faces spoke of fear, We clapped. You selected some of us to live in your heaven, I was one of those who always clapped, now I was a proud human, away from the dirt of the Third World, I clapped. I met an old man on a shiny pathway, carrying a box of empty bottles. He looked at my bottle and said, I sell bottles. There was loneliness and hunger in his eyes. I cried.