CATASTROPHE: words of peace in times of war

It is excruciatingly late
And I need to sleep
But I also need to write

I need to process
Dissecting this confluence of emotion
Living in a moment of historic proportions
Flirting with the precipice of barbarism
An apocalyptic age of mass destruction

I am torn between worlds
Deluged by diametrically opposed positions
Out of alignment with much of my recovery family
Yet unable to remain passive
Compelled to seek words of peace

This is Israel’s 9-11
Perhaps worse in guttural ferocity
And I worry that we have learned nothing

9-11 was horrifying
Rationalizing two wars of conquest
Hundreds of thousands of casualties
Billions in military spending
Justified by our collective pain

Revenge is an age old social instinct
Rendered exponentially dangerous and vicious
Revenge amplified by our contemporary military arsenals

I hold fast to principle
Believing all life to be sacred
Refusing to see either side as disposable
Honoring both the Palestinian and Israeli dead

Our movement for liberation is at an impasse
Denouncing Zionism is not a strategy
Being right is less important than being in relationship

To reach our goal
To achieve a secular state
Demands new alliances

Divorcing Antisemitism from Anti-Zionism
Envisioning a collective solution
A fusion of polyvalent collective aspirations

I pray for my friends who stand with Israel
I pray that their hearts open
Hearing the wails of Palestinian suffering
Seeing our common humanity

This is a moment of catastrophe
Demanding a new humanism
Demanding the dismantling of empire

I pray by my fire
I pray that the horror is minimized
I pray for a spiritual and political awakening

This is a catastrophe in a cradle of civilization
I pray that it is not a cradle of our destruction

–BYPO PHOENIX c)2023