Today I post a poem by my love, Guari. It is as relevant today as when he wrote it in 2001, during “Operation Enduring Freedom,” when the United States was bombing Iraq. For me, this poem offers the hope of coming to terms with violence and oppression at both the outer, practical and the inner, spiritual level. During this time of danger, we all need to go deep within ourselves and reach out to others to find “the courage to rise.”
Courage to Rise
What courage does it take to terrorize
what wisdom to believe the lies
what faith to trust the gods of war and greed
what intelligence to follow teachers of hate
A crucified Christ silently indicts
the politics of power, religion and state
actions born from accepted worldly wisdom
denial of the sacred for the god of belief
Truth is written by grief
on faces and bodies broken by violence
by loss of loved ones, of home, of hope
Pull the body from the rubble
take it down from the cross
carry it against the tide
away from the arena
against the crush,
the push of the crowd,
the mob’s rush
to violence and more blood
To the tomb lying open,
waiting deep in the soul
in the beating heart’s distress,
in the emptiness
there to find courage
to rise again in love
Find more poems by Guarionex at Guarionex Delgado, Mostly Poetry.
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Sharon Delgado 