Again on 11, a poem

Again on 11

On this--day of mourning

and grief, building resolve,

once again we have a motive--                                                                   

extraordinary morning,

sky blue, parents off to work,

children to school--this time

in the African night

on the coast, in Benghazi,

rocket-fired grenades,

machine guns, bombs,

consulate on fire, ambassador

and staff killed, and all

the elaborate defenses

built in every American

post abroad and at home

questioned, how zealots,

furious, blind or organized,

can ram their horse

into the halls of Ilium,

but I have the metaphor

wrong. There are no Troys

or Ithacas left on earth,

just modern day

variations turned

to farce, men

dispossessed of reason,

ranting, misnaming God.

            Indran Amirthanayagam, September 12, 2012