September 11 2001. For the Victims – and Their Victims

Published: September 15, 2011

Those to whom evil is done,
Do evil in return.
WH Auden
September 1, 1939

The God Of Things As They Are
Turns now this way, now that,
Bestowing the same smile
On winners and on losers,
On the Brooks Brothers suit
Buried beneath the rubble
And on the jellabah
Buried beneath the rubble,
Whose wearers, mammals both,
Cuddle together both
Seeking mammalian warmth
Where none is to be had.

“Thy Father slew my Father:
Therefore…”
You know the rest:
What they have done to us
We shall do unto them.
Thus has it always been.
Thus will it be until
Enough cry “Hold ! Enough !” –
Cry “Stop It!  Stop It Now !”

When the disciple saw
His master weeping for
The death of his own master
The student wisely said
“Teacher, I’ve learnt from you
That all flesh is as grass,
That what begins must end,
That letting go of all
Attachment is required
To banish suffering.
Why, therefore, do you weep ?”

“I weep because I’m sad.”
Robert Ilson