The Supreme Leader Is Still Kicking

Alive, he haunts the reins of power
like a donkey wildly kicking

Dead or alive, the Ayatollah holds the keys
to Persian limbo, his nod
the whip of an overseer

Like a fatwah, he haunts
the jailers’ psyche, and
lets the guards
perform their evil sodomy

Everyone has heard
the rumors of truth:
all the prison abuse

I thought I heard old Karoubi say
many patriots are still in jail. Their
guards are godless scum, the
rapist with portfolio, the
overseers given imprimatur to print lies

There’s a plan, but
for those defiled
compromise is too late
injuries too great

The ghost of complicity
will linger in publicity
for the dead and alive