Memory's Long Debate Poem by Basim Alansari

Go tell the leaders pacing polished floors,
Who track the profit in a sudden fall;
A rough, storm-battered hull has hit the reef,
Answering the heavy, final call.
…
That line may not been steady on the wave;
It slipped the course and left its share of stains;
Yet some grand acts outshine the grey mistakes,
When measured by the wreckage that remains.
…
Let others stay within their concrete towers,
To trap the target with a cold intent;
Cut the lines and watched the timber break,
Then smiled to see exactly how it went.
…
The shoreline blurs as heavy waters rise;
A weeping public gathers at the docks,
In floods of bitter, broken-hearted tears
For one whose heart was deeper than the rocks.
…
But for the rivals mocking from the dark,
No flag will rise, no quiet knee will bend;
They fade like chemical foam on the sand,
Left entirely lonely at the end.
…
While one is held in memory's long debate,
Weighed for the fractures they tried to heal,
The others leave a cold, indifferent space,
A sterile legacy they chose to deal.
…..