You Are Now Poised to Kill, Perhaps to Die

Music: Santa Maria Amar.
Cantigas de Santa Maria.
Sequenced by Curtis Clark at The Internet Renaissance Band
.

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Poems About
Terrorism
and 9/11

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Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

You are now poised to kill, perhaps to die,
To perpetrate the ultimate offense,
To plead, perhaps, the warrior's defense:
The crime is mutual; not mine the why.
You want, of all times, this time not to lie,
Or be beguiled by righteous innocence,
Or find in such a nightmare common sense,
Or give to grief some comforting reply.
You know that war is evil, yet you must
Engage in acts unspeakable and cruel
To serve some oft-miscalculated end.
And though the cause be criminal or just,
You need not be a villain or a fool
To yield to furies you cannot defend.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.



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