1991 Poem by Mustafa Marconi

1991, the air raids continues
Baghdad under siege
F-14’s, F-15’s, Tornadoes and stealths bombard the city
Soldiers headed toward the Kuwaiti boarder
One million reservist on alert
American technology versus Islamic fanaticism
Back home the patriotic praise the soldiers
God bless America
While their opposition call for an immediate cease-fire
Bush utters “read my lips”
And the bullets are flying in the South Bronx
And in Harlem

“Missiles rock Israel”, front-page news
Patriot missiles intercept scuds aimed at Saudi Arabia
Saddam threatens, Bush retaliates
The soldiers are digging in
Reservist bidding their families a teary farewell
The masses praying for peace
While black teenagers in Brownsville
Crown Heights and East New York
Are violently and senselessly dying

Panic in the city
Is this a prelude to world war three?
Saddam calls for Jihad, a holy war
F-16’s and B-52’s continue the onslaught
Shelves at the supermarket are running low
As civilians prepare for a long and bitter war
Everyone cries out against the bombing of Israel
Nobody sheds a tear for the Palestinians
Nobody sheds a tear for the homeless
The hungry, the unemployed, or the impoverished
Iraqi artillery are dug in
The United States continues to soften up Saddam
Is this a holy war?
A war for oil?
Why should the poor have to fight?
When they could barely afford
To heat their homes
While oil companies rake in a fortune
And their children enjoy a life of privileges
The Bible says; thou shall not take for yourself idols
Or bow down to them or worship them
The priest bows to statues
Bush bows to economics
Saddam bows to oil
This is not a holy war
This is not about Kuwait or it’s people

1991
Jails overcrowded with a disproportionate amount
Of African Americans
Crack, drugs, crime, unemployment, and hopelessness
Destroying our communities
Blacks off to fight for oil
Crying for our brothers and sisters
Murdered in South Africa
Marching for our brothers and sisters
Who continue to endure
Racial violence and discrimination
Police brutality and racial profiling
Killing for Exxon, Mobile, and Hess
Yet refuse to fight for self-respect and equality
Here in the United States of America

The air raids continues
Baghdad under siege
American steel versus Islamic zeal
Bush confers with coalition leaders
Gorbachev attacks the Baltic States
The soldiers head north to Kuwait
And the death tolls continue to mount
In the urban communities here in America
And in the desolate outskirts of Palestine