(Dedicated to Salih Diab)
Now that the world is wracked by climate change,
Created by hubris, will to power and greed,
And democratic nations gladly exchange
Their heads for populists who always mislead
And literalists dictate religious life,
Paving the way for ruthless false messiahs,
It seems we’ve condemned ourselves to endless strife
While feeling we could check our base desires.
For deep inside we know we’re free to choose
‘Tween potential kingdom on earth of Heaven or Hell,
That all of us would gain if none would lose:
Never were stakes so high since the angels fell.
When the sum of a part is greater than that of the whole,
The time has come to summon Gandhi’s soul.
Jerusalem
10 February 2019