Gulf Poem by Mason Maestro

The leader reclined in the Tigris Palace
He said, this land is my land to the Shiites
And the Sunnis looked up from the Gulf beneath
Looking over their shoulder
Checking out every boulder in the park
Where the gates are closed from hate
After dark

And the Iraqis rolled up in their armored tanks
They kissed the land in their respective ranks
A soldier said something that I did not understand
It was in Arabic

And in Baghdad City
The Iraqi leader in his Kashmir suit
Ordered his men to take Kuwait as loot
Between puffs on his Persian cheroot

And he said,
'Well, dare you send your Coalition to my desert sands
My brief is with my rightful province strand.'

And the Desert Storm bombardment raged
Around the ancient tombs, Babylon ruins
While Ballistic and scud missiles zoom
And Mother Nature licked her wound
The National Guard set ablaze the oil wells at the park
Where the gates are closed from hate
After dark