Sinking the Statue of Liberty

This poem is dedicated to the thousands of people killed in New York and Afghanistan on September 11 and to remind people that revenge and hatred doesn’t bring peace or justice. Peace only brings peace and this is not an ideal, it is who we are when we step away from confusion.

THE SINKING OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

When I am in pain,
The desire to hit back arrives,
Yet an eye for an eye leaves despair unawake,
As it does not teach respect,
Nor empathy,
Nor compassion,
It does not lead as an example of peace,
It simply seeks the revenge of inflicting more pain,
So that the other feels what I am feeling,
To teach them a lesson,
Yet payback goes nowhere,
For when you are now here,
Reality is as it is,
For we cannot change the past,
But we can change the future,
By modeling the change we wish to see.

Life, liberty and happiness,
Are not just words inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial,
They are the lamp of illumination for all humanity,
Not to be forgotten at a memorial service,
For this is the alter from which they must shine brightest,
From the beacon of leadership,
of all nations.

The Afghan people are best known for their hospitality,
Salom means hello,
Tashakor means thank you,
For as you are the guest they will give you the best,
Although their lives are war torn,
They will give you all they have,
And they will surround you so that you are not alone,
And if you ask for refuge,
They will never refuse,
Even if you just murdered their family member,
They cannot say no,
To desperation.

Thousands were killed on both sides,
On September Eleven,
The few trying to get even,
Yet all were innocent lambs,
All were going about their daily lives,
Yet each nation was the symbol of the great evil
In the eyes of the other,
For what is achieved by creating terror,
Can you kill confusion?
Can you kill hate?
Is warfare an international court?

The Statue of Liberty stands silently,
Watching the fall out of events,
Awaiting freedom,
Blind to evil,
Balancing fact with fiction,
For there is no self interest in truth,
When truth is who you are,
And justice is what you stand for.

It is the truth that sets you free,
And FATE is,
From All Thoughts Everywhere,
So what thoughts are you thinking?
Are they your own?
Or CNN?
Your neighbours?
Your religion?
Can you step back without judgement?
And see the whole truth,
And nothing but the truth,
So help me god?
In the rubble,
Can you find clarity?
In the smoke and mirrors,
For in the mirror of truth,
We must face ourselves,
Alone.

I ask you can you look without a story?
Can you see without prejudice?
Can you hear what you don’t want to hear?
Can you find the statue of liberty in yourself,
For always there is two sides,
Always there is misunderstanding,
Always violence leads to violence.

Love seeks to heal the pain,
Freedom seeks to embrace the truth,
Happiness seeks to befriend the other,
As we reach hands across the sea,
To see ourselves in each ripple of the other,
To find forgiveness,
To work together towards global solutions free of manipulation,
For in each tragedy there is a new road waiting for you,
For you can see the signs when you look,
It is time for truth and reconciliation,
For the world order is changing,
As violence is the sinking ship of endless wars,
That profit the few and destroy the many,
As blame just rearranged the deck chairs to distract from real dilemmas,
Rather than float the boat into new directions,
Finding real hope on the horizon.

Terror cannot be alleviated by more terror,
By a media evoking endless mantras of evil,
It can only be de-escalated by understanding,
Justice hearing both sides,
Building bridges of peace,
For reconstruction builds the house not the home,
And many are homeless,
For we are not each others keepers,
As we sink or swim.

Afghanistan is the poorest country on earth,
The US is the richest,
The afghan people are dying from depleted uranium,
Mental illness,
Poverty,
Endless suffering,
As they see no future,
In American soldiers,
Or Afghan chieftains,
For they have only known endless invasion,
They have only known oppression from all sides,
For in the cold war they were the pawns to sink the Soviets,
And no-one heard their silent screams,
Their terror as another missile attack rained down on Kabul,
As their proud country crumbled to rubble,
And insecurity immortalized in the skeletons of more mortar attacks.

17 million landmines were planted rather than food,
No play for children in cluster bombs,
Yellow molded packages like toys,
Blowing off limbs and hands,
So many walk with artificial limbs,
Hobbling to beg for food,
A landmine for each man woman and child,
This is the September 11 that never ends,
A country that is an eternal memorial site without plaques,
Where people are too poor for funerals,
This is the kernel that has no hope,
For life liberty and happiness,
Has no right to exist in Afghanistan.

Whilst commentators may say empires come to die in Afghanistan,
The people can never live,
They can never feel free of cross hair targeting,
Tormented by constant attack and lines of control,
For these are the fleeing boat people seen as illegal,
As their suffering is internalized behind a thousand veils,
of ignorance.

So my memorial is to love,
That love may be realized in justice,
That love may extend the hand in friendship,
That love may awaken fools to the folly of war,
That love may share all we have to give them hope,
Welcoming enemies as guests,
To find there is no enemy,
Only the fears orchestrated in the minds of paranoia,
That the only security rests in understanding and finding peace,
In who we are,
And that is seen in our actions,
For actions speak more than words,
I see the Statue of Liberty sinking and crumbling,
For only truth is eternal,
When lived,
As a statement of who we really are.