The gentile giant - a poem

(This is a first draft : With apologies to Oscar Wilde)

Every afternoon, after they
came back from school,
the children would go and
play in the Giant's garden.
It was a beautiful garden,
where the petunia overflowed
amidst lush green grass and
olive trees. The date palms
grew rapidly in spring making
the birds happy and sing
"How happy we are"...
A peculiar tune, I must say.

One day, the Giant came back, and
he had a determined look on his face.
When he arrived, he saw
children frolicking and happily playing.
"What are you doing here?" he sternly asks...
To which the children knew not what
to say, needless, they hastily disappeared.
"My land is my land.. It belonged
to my ancestors and now it belongs to
me and is mine only.
He soon decreed that anyone caught or
entering his land will face consequences.
He built a high wall all round his garden,
a wall so tall, that the children by and by
slowly forgot what secrets lay within.

Every once in a while, when he stood up,
the giant so towered
over the neighborly children
they often cowered and wondered,
why one needed a wall as tall.
The children continued living
and minding their petty
businesses, some in squalor
some in splendor, but commonly shut out
of their childhood garden.

Some of us have naughty neighbors,
others have haughty ones,
this giant too was not spared of such.
His neighbors were children
and like children denied, they
threw the occasional stick, lobbed an
errant stone and every once in a while
using a toy bow (fashioned out of olive
tree branches and goat gut) shot; stray
arrows towards the giant’s home.
Some of the arrows would clear the wall,
and land in the garden, whilst some,
would fall back on the children.
The occasional arrow falling back
resulted in the curious case of a
child blinded by his own arrow.
A self goal, kind of…

And every once in a while, an arrow would
find its mark, lightly poking the giant. Of course,
in cases such as that, his thick epidermal armor
protected him. The giant would roar and bellow,
gnash his teeth and grunt menacingly.
He sometimes would throw little rocks
back at the children. Providence is funny,
he was blessed with deadly aim and every
time he threw those stones, many children
were crushed by its deadly force.

The other day, the children were up to their
tricks, and in the heat of the moment,
they decided to send out a shower of arrows.
Only this time, the giant was asleep.
Unlucky fate. The shower of arrows
happened to chance,
on the giant deep in slumber.
The pinpricks were felt and
an angry awakening ensued.
Insult to injury, he seemed to take notice of
an arrow that lodged itself in his left toe.
He gingerly pulled it out
and let out a murderous shriek. He decided to
teach the little ones a lesson.
One they might never forget.

He went into his large castle,
to his large private room. A dank, musty room
where he stored his weapons. He took
the choicest ones out,
gloating all the time.
He selected gleaming body armors,
adorned with a glittering coat of arms
climbed into his gunship,
and armed his missiles.
He had made sure (previously),
to sharpen the titanium tipped edges
of his steel swords
and properly arm the phosphorous bombs.
He also made sure the cluster munitions
were set to the right charges.
All the while, he was singing a merry tune.

The children on the other side of the wall
(sensing what was coming) cowered
in their little rickety mud homes.
The foolish children, they filled their quivers
full of toy arrows. Hoping to fight back.

The giant casually stepped over the high
stone walls, thinking to himself how easy
it was for him to casually step over.
He stoops to examine the little children,
(who by now) are running helter skelter
between his large, pink toes.
He is surprised to find that
some were blind and weak
some as thin as a rail
and others starving.
A few were holed up in their homes
hoping to defend their little families…

He proceeds to gingerly pick up the
little ones between his index and
middle fingers. He then uses his
opposing grasp to slowly squeeze
their little lungs. And just as they
are about their last gasp,
he lets them go. He drops them on
the ground and using his large toe
proceeds to casually step on their
little skulls. The funny thing was that
he actually seemed to enjoy the urgent
red spurts of blood that seemed to
erupt from their ears. He then wipes
his toes clean on the sand (the sand
between the olive trees) and goes in
search of the next one.

After about a hundred of them were finished
this way, the giant is tired.
He decides to take a break.
He goes into his castle for some
(much needed) food and rest.
The next day it is the same story.
For thirteen days, he walks over the
little homes of his neighbors,
destroying their schools, universities
and play areas.
He took care of their day care centers,
their shelter homes,
the homes of their fathers,
sisters and mothers. He does not spare
their graveyards nor their places of worship.
The mom and pop stores, the cobblers,
the olive oil merchant, the handyman
he manages to attend to them all.
When he is done, nothing is left standing.
Just mud, smoke and dust swirl
amidst the ruins of burning phosphorous.
This time he is really tired.
He decides that he has had enough,
and bellows to his neighbors
that in his well intentioned mind,
the suffering that the children have endured
is enough and he is magnanimous enough
to declare a cease fire.

Distant applause is heard from all
quarters of the world. All the fair and noble
minds applaud the cease fire. They reason that
one can endure only so many toy arrows before
the use of deadly force is sanctioned.
The giant now retires to his private quarters and
plans his next move. As he was stepping
into his home, he looked back and saw
a strange sight. The swans in his garden,
those stately white ones, the ones he
so dearly loved - they were singing,
loud and clear notes in the limpid waters.

Palestinian doctors carry the bodies of children killed by an Israeli tank shell, to the morgue at Shifa hospital in Gaza January 5, 2009. An Israeli tank shell killed three Palestinian children in their home in eastern Gaza City on Monday, medical officials said. They said several other Palestinians were wounded in the incident in Gaza's Zeitoun neighbourhood. An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report. Photo ripped from Reuters Pictures.