A Tale of Two Women

Neda Soltan was the young woman shot to death by Iranian Police in 2009 during demonstrations against corrupt elections that kept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power. The photo of her bleeding to death in the streets has become a symbol of resistence in theocratic Iran. Today the State Department released a report of wide spread human rights abuses in that country. We are portrayed by Iran's leaders as the Great Satan. Iran by us (althogh not as fervently by Obama) as the Axis of Evil. Go back 41years to Kent State on May 4th and you find the photo of Mary Ann Vechio, a 14 year old runaway, screaming over the body of Jeff Miller shot dead by Ohio National Guardsmen seconds before. Maybe it is only the leaders who are the Great Satan or the Axis of Evil, and the youth much more common. Hope you enjoy:

A Tale of Two Women
When will the bearded theocrats ruling with iron hands
Wake up to the revolution that is sweeping their lands?
The youth do not want to put their personal lives on hold,
Waiting for the Hidden Inman to return to the earthly fold
If Caesar and God one seeks to merge
Free expression and thought one must purge
Along with all manner of any earthly joy
Even a girl's walk in a street holding hands with a boy
The Great Satan and the Axis of Evil we are portrayed
Images from which we both in the past have not strayed
Kent State- Images of a screaming young girl with a student dead at her feet
Tehran--Images of a wounded young girl bleeding out in the streets
40 years apart the youth are much closer than one might think
Hopefully the theocrats will see some sanity and blink
As Iranians, especially women, rise up no longer serfs
To regain one's humanity and freedom’s rightful perch.
The Arab Spring that has swept the Arab shores
Where each minor concession brings out the cries for more
Though the men who rule cannot to Western music dance,
If they are smart, they will step aside and let freedom advance.
If not, their days are numbered as the youth will prevail
They will not put up the theocratic tyrants’ 24/7 mental and social jails.
(c) Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
April 19, 2011