Ariel Poem by George Murdock

Ariel

Oh troubled world what will be done?
What will happen if Ariel dies?
Will we settle into sleep?
relieved of his bluster and contempt,
spared from his smile which could be
no less sincere.
Will we escape the narrow eyes?
of a man who has never lived
with clean hands.
Will we coast into Bethlehem?
in the middle of Passover
our spirits crushed
by the wailing
of hired mourners
and a dirge of device and reparations.
Will the clanking of armor
ever cease under his dread auspices,
the noise of war and wailing,
of endless speech and curses.
Will the sands accept him?
as he sinks like the corner of a billboard
or a ragged running fence lost in drift.
Will his echo reverberate in stucco houses?
built atop catastrophe and eviction
which may as well have been built of mud
and straw and stand longer
The jagged world of Palestine will not miss him
for they have suffered him.