The Holy Land

Some day we shall talk about this

like we do the Bamiyans - remembering 

only in parts the things that make us look

less reprehensible. 

It is what we do best when pushed 

to a corner, and asked to make 

a statement but instead 

we slip into memes 

like the expert raconteur 

we think we are. 

We like to imagine we have something

important to say, and perhaps we do -

maybe it's in our nature to demand 

an alternate universe where

everything is as it should be 

and yet here we are today

exactly where we've always been

comfortably vacillating 

and arguing about just causes 

as if they really matter

but what do we have to say

to this valley of dry bones, this graveyard 

of tired voices, this morgue of a city

that hasn't been said already

do we imagine there'll be resuscitation

if we speak clearly enough  

or perhaps we must simply let the rubble 

tell its own story like the Bamiyans long ago

and return to our canapés 

as we always do!