Patience Please

What else is it besides a coup,
Which we decline to recognize?
And doing so appear untrue
To liberty in others’ eyes.
Elected to a four-year term
Last year as Egypt’s president,
Mohamed Morsi, let’s affirm,
Though somewhat less than heaven sent,
Unless in what one sees but good,
His diehard Muslim Brotherhood.

The country’s Arab spring has reeled
To chilling battles in the street
While reassuring generals wield
Their clout so Islam’s rule can’t seat
In parliament or palace halls
Religious creed but civil law.
And put an end to lethal brawls.
For now, though sticking in my craw
Is why not wait for three brief years
And vote out zealots on their rears?

For what’s to happen next time when
Officials chosen at the polls
Give voters second thoughts again?
Will once more we see brand new rolls
Of candidates that crowds approve?
More accurately called mob rule,
Which here at home does not behoove—
Clear anarchy, first learned in school.
A price for mischief should be paid
Like loss of U.S. foreign aid.