Who will come to save me now?
(Written during the first Gulf War)
Barry North
When did I become
so hardened to human suffering?
Who is this monster I do not recognize,
who can sit in front of a T.V
watching a war
as though it were a mini-series?
Who taught me this trick
of accepting the destruction of 200,000 people
in the blinking of an eye?
When did I learn to look at babies-
with bloated stomachs,
crawling with flies,
starving to death in countries
with names I cannot pronounce-
as though they have nothing to do with me?
Who is this creature I cannot abide:
who would sooner part with his humanity
than with his cash;
who can dismiss all of the homeless
with a backward flick of the wrist -
the way Pontius Pilate dismissed a barefooted rebel
dressed in rags -
like so much rubbish,
too despicable to be touched with his clean Roman hands.
First published in Ancient Paths
(Written during the first Gulf War)
Barry North
When did I become
so hardened to human suffering?
Who is this monster I do not recognize,
who can sit in front of a T.V
watching a war
as though it were a mini-series?
Who taught me this trick
of accepting the destruction of 200,000 people
in the blinking of an eye?
When did I learn to look at babies-
with bloated stomachs,
crawling with flies,
starving to death in countries
with names I cannot pronounce-
as though they have nothing to do with me?
Who is this creature I cannot abide:
who would sooner part with his humanity
than with his cash;
who can dismiss all of the homeless
with a backward flick of the wrist -
the way Pontius Pilate dismissed a barefooted rebel
dressed in rags -
like so much rubbish,
too despicable to be touched with his clean Roman hands.
First published in Ancient Paths
