| The
Dance of Hate (To David N. Dinkins)
In the dance of hatred that we spin
one group turns its hand against another
and chooses rage instead of tolerance,
because blood speaks louder than reason.
The many voices of dissension
always seek violent solutions,
since it's easier to kill your foes,
than to get along with them as friends.
The endless dance of confrontation
pairs fanatical antagonists,
dedicated to the rejection
of any sensible compromise.
Palestinian suicide bombers
are recruited from the dispossessed
and sent by ruthless calculators,
who save themselves for middle class comforts.
The Orangemen march and bang their drums,
flaunting unforgotten victories
over countrymen who look alike,
but fear each other's house of worship.
The Buddhists pray and sound their gongs
when communists come to arrest them
for rejecting the state religion
that requires soulless obedience.
The Moslem cries to animists
that one god only is allowed
and will slaughter unbelievers
who don't accept the one true god.
So Islam wars against other faiths
in Israel, Sudan, Nigeria,
while Central Europe and the Balkans seethe,
and the arab street reviles the Great Satan.
It seems to be the human destiny
to build armies of extermination
that dance the dance of endless strife
and fertilize the blossoms of destruction.
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