Taksim Park cries

In the development-obsessed

 Istanbul,

They angry Turks congregate

In millions now

For a different cause—

The Taksim  Gezi Park,

The last of green lungs

For the about 14 million residents,

In the name of growth,

The elite want an old Ottoman-era

 Military barracks and a mall,

By quickly demolishing the Gezi Park

And an agitated public, its own park,

The conflict escalates,

Tear gas cans and water cannon and canes

Charge, trying to suppress popular voice;

In this now-classic war between armed rulers

And the peaceful ruled, bereft of any arms,

Trees crystallize old discontents, suppression of rights,

It is same everywhere now---

The SEZs (Special Economic Zones) vs. the dwindling farms and trees,

Somebody wise must stand up and tell the blind/ deaf regimes

In such global hot spots:

If there won’t be the latter,

Even we won’t be, on a warming planet,

And your costly malls will become---

Upscale concrete mausoleums;

Hark!

Otherwise, more

Tahrir Squares to come!