Glenda has inspired me again to post something outside my usual perimeters. I've been so sad about what's happening in Lebanon. Too sad to post about it really. And not wanting to take on more issues than I already do.
Then Glenda reminded me that sometimes what one wants to say has already been said. And so it becomes more a matter of just giving the voice a space than anything else. So, I'm posting one of Edna St. Vincent Millay's sonnets, published in 1939: "Czecho-Slovakia." It's the way I often feel these days about Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon and Gaza and Darfur and the rainforests and the inner cities in the U.S. and...
"If there were balm in Gilead, I would go
To Gilead for your wounds, unhappy land,
Gather you balsam there, and with this hand,
Made deft by pity, cleanse and bind and sew
And drench with healing, that your strength might grow,
(Though love be outlawed, kindness contraband)
And you, O proud and felled, again might stand;
But where to look for balm, I do not know.
The oils and herbs of mercy are so few;
Honour's for sale; allegiance has its price;
The barking of a fox has bought us all;
We save our skins a craven hour or two--
While Peter warms him in the servants' hall
The thorns are platted and the cock crows twice."
I cry for Lebanon and for us all, as we watch and shake our heads and only sigh...
8 comments:
Head bowing.
The poem is great.
One think about the Lesbanese is thye dont deserve this. WIth hillary for president she would protect them, but with BUSH they get BALMED.
Beautiful..I also cry for lebanon..it's so hosed up.
Thank you for joining me in my sorrow.
Beautiful poem.
People of Lebanon: I curse the arrogance of the invader
I say the recent violence is part of a bigger plan.
To be exact: Israel's 'war on terror’.
Translated from newspeak to English:
Consolidating the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories stolen by Israel in the 1967 War as just anther way to exclude Arab Muslims from Israeli society by any means necessary under the pretext of fighting extremists.
Hezbollah opposes the occupation and so Hezbollah is terrorist, just like everybody else who opposes the occupation.
It’s interesting how that works, especially considering the circumstances surrounding Hezbollah’s formation.
again, beautiful poem.
As always I am truly moved by your words. Very powerful on a consistant basis. The poem moved me beyond words and I too cry for Lebanon.
There is solace in knowing we are not alone in our sadness. Hopefully, the Lebanese are reading the many outpourings of love that are reaching out to them from here.
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