On The Vigil

Image of President al-Assad by Ranan Lurie

There’s a candlelight vigil in the evening;

All gather near the shelters, the rotunda, and they sing

For swathes of the oppressed and lines of displaced refugees,

But who will light a candle for the cause of this disease?

My lion has a calm and pleasant manner when he roars.

He’d never sanction poor behaviour, in or out of doors,

He has a birthday coming up, so let us light for him

A special taper carved out from a line of seraphim.

Off you go and wring your hands and change the way you feel,

I’ll strike a light for al-Assad and bring its glow to heel.

***

[nb ‘al-assad’, in Arabic, ‘the lion’, was the nickname adopted as surname by the President’s grandfather] [Update: in the wake of fresh evidence of a chemical attack by Assad forces, we suggested on Facebook in April 2018 that it was time to go (perhaps with family and retinue to a safe estate in Vladivostok.) This evoked a massive response, roughly 50% agreeing, the other 50% suggesting that we ‘butt out.’]