The Prince

A champion for losers

---

Resistance Poetry on Machiavelli

Corrupt Leadership — MO Bilbeisi collaborator *

They were all weak,
they knew that they were,
they had no plans among them,
that anyone concurred,
they craved unfettered change
to obliterate their broken stage.

It was much too hard to think
how they had gotten here,
they did not care to know,
but grew weary of the show,
the scenery and characters
forever re-arranged.

And so they sought a Man,
who they at last could trust
to think the same as they,
to drive a greater thrust,
and destroy their many barriers
to success and happiness

This prince must take it all,
end the power of the barons,
whoever they might be,
a champion for the weak,
he would see them as his legions,
his companion armies.

And so they bought the ruse,
they took it hook, line, and sinker,
not one had thought it through,
or removed their fastened blinkers,
but dashed on, unseeing,
to their fate that soon enough would be.

And now I spy the scene,
looking for a bud of life,
try to find the scourge’s meaning,
the last of his Pyrrhic dance,
where all victors are but losers
and nothing real remains.

I then seem to remember
his prophetic words,
the Prince would tear asunder
the enemies he burned;
were there ever any answers,
all were losers in this place.

The bribes were sent and numbered,
each to his own intent,
the promises he proffered
the booty quickly spent
were nowhere to be found,
all leveled to the ground.

* Image: Corrupt Leadership — 13 in x 19 in watercolor pigment on watercolor paper.

Three suited figures […] huddle in the foreground, loosely rendered and inward-looking, their forms negotiating a BRIBE. A delicate but unyielding line of barbed wire stretches behind them, separating private deliberation from public ideals. In the distance, the Washington Monument rises in luminous yellow, symbolizing authority that is visible yet remote.

Measured perspective lines draw the eye toward power while emphasizing moral distance. The work offers a quiet, restrained reflection on complicity, corruption, and the fragile gap between democratic symbols and human action. — MO Bilbeisi, 2025

---

Thank you for taking the time to read! We deeply appreciate your support. Copyright © 2026, Robert G. Metivier. All Rights Reserved.
Image and description Copyright © 2025, Moh’d Bilbeisi. All Rights Reserved.

If you like my work, please Buy Me a Coffee