Echoes of Power

In diplomatic parlance,
He was known as a “friendly tyrant”—
A paradox wrapped in protocol,
A partner cloaked in iron.

A dependable ally in our time,
Sustained by generous streams of aid,
Though much was siphoned quietly
To line his private vaults.

He frequented my halls,
A guest of state and circumstance,
Courting presidents in sequence—
Among them, Donald Westwood.

His boldest venture,
A campaign waged in fraternal guise,
A mission of influence,
To purge the stage of dissent.

No oil to fund the fire,
Yet rivers of wealth flowed
Into arsenals and covert plots,
Scattered across the globe.

A jungle of diplomacy,
Where rumble masked intent,
And power danced with principle—
Until the silence fell.