THE CARETAKER OF THE PALM TREE
Wearing a flowing purple workman’s robe,
water beaker in hand
he anoints the baby palm
with the gift of splashing water,
and mutters ancient Arabic verse
to spook nearby infidel chatter as
winds topple his shadow
over his erratic footsteps—
forceful impressions dissipating
throuh the freshly-mown Halliburton grass.
A rare empathetic look by an American at former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein when Hussein was in U.S. Camp Cropper prison in Baghdad, 2004, where he was given the job of taking care of a palm tree.
If we had never bombed Iraq, wouldn't the world be LESS in a terrorist-stricken way?
