Reflections on Hearing the Report on the CodePink Delegation to Yemen

 

 

I hear the anguish in her trembling voice

As she describes the fate of people who have no choice

Husbands, fathers and sons plucked into thin air

Leaving behind families in utter despair

 

Many suffering the double loss of family and the schism

Resulting from heartbreaking community ostracism

For if their loved one is in Guantánamo the community insists

They surely must be guilty of being a terrorist

 

Wives separated from husbands in a manner cruel and mean

Left caring for the children their fathers have never seen

The gut-wrenching injustice tears at your heart

Of the evil forces keeping these families apart

 

The men in question were long ago cleared

But remain in remain imprisoned because it is feared

Their experiences in custody will lead them to strike back

And launch new terrorist attacks

 

The situation here is clearly insane

And results in incredible pain

And it certainly is no mystery

Why it represents a black mark on America’s history

 

And it exposes the presidents abject hypocrisy

In talking about America’s democracy

The venal crimes of Congress we can understand

But not the actions of such a highly intelligent man

 

Medea told him Mr President you have the way

He even acknowledged she had something important to say

But nothing has happened the prisoners remain

And Guantánamo’s still there an ugly deepening stain

 

But CodePink has reached out and touched the hearts

Of a few people whose world has been rendered apart

Reaffirming for us in this world of insanity

There still remain messengers of love and humanity

 

HP Charman MD  August 3, 2013