9-11 2007
It is the anniversary of the attack
seems like they have one every year
Wreathes are laid, videos are released
spin doctors spin, dead in graves spin
Deaths in reaction dwarf deaths in the action
I mean in numbers, others decide on value
I am grateful when a friend sends me
a poem by Hafiz
BARBARIANS 2003 AD
“We thought of ourselves as people of culture.
How long will it be till others see us that way again? “
Iraqi friend of poet Naomi Nye
The collected works of Hafiz
still outsell the Koran in Iran
Today in Baghdad bombs and fear
scattered lovers of Rumi and Kabir
Museum of modern man’s cradle
lost eighty centuries in a day
Book starved minds, educated thumbs
video game cowboys blew it all away
We thought ourselves people of culture
how long before we can look
at ourselves that way again
DINNER WITH ROBERT BLY
Bly orders oysters like Hafiz and Rumi
Richest food on the menu
Swallows them whole
Offers them to all who share his table