911 Poem

by Roberto Diego

 

Listen well, my young friend

For all things have changed

And I have a new lesson that you should hear.

Forget for now the tales of the past,

the tales of magic and mystery and dance

that we enjoyed during our childhoods.

 We must learn about the hater who hates us.

 

The hater who hates us

Does not want you to be his slave,

He wants you to be his slave

Before he kills you.

Don’t cover your ears, my precious friend, from the horror

That I now teach.

Open your eyes.

Gaze upon the image of the towers that once stood tall

and understand what it means that they have fallen.

 

 The hater who hates us

Is not envious of our possessions.

He does not want to steal them for himself—

He wants only to take them from us.

He does not want to live your life,

Or be free and guiltless like you.

He envies only your guiltless smile.

 

The hater who hates us

Tells himself that he is pure before God

While we are evil, worldly, sinful and impure.

He tells himself

It is his duty to rid the world of us.

 

The hater who hates us cannot build

Our beautiful buildings

Our clean society,

Our wired and wireless world,

Our highways

And the wonderful accomplishment

That is you—the person you have made.

Our creed says happiness is possible

In this world, in this life—

Today and now.

His creed is to destroy our creed

And bring the world to decay and decline.

 

You go to dinner—he hides in caves.

You dance and smile—he seethes at your sinfulness

You wear new and bright colors—he wears drab sheets

You proclaim happiness—he wants life to be pain and suffering

You smile and laugh—he hates your joy.

You try to persuade—he points a gun

You trade—he bombs

You create—he hates

You build for the future—he thinks he will go to heaven by destroying your future

 

And what do we give the world?

We give it freedom

Not force.

We give it rights

Not duties.

We give it accomplishment

Not envy.

We are life and joy

That’s what the hater who hates us hates.

That’s what he wants to kill.

 

 How can there be peace

When the hater who hates us

Must kill us in the name of God?

 

 And now you ask, my precious friend,

“Why do you say such things  

that do not ring of life?

I've known but only laughter,

I've lived with only hope.”

 

My friend, you are young,

but I have seen a thousand deaths and cried a thousand tears….

That came from long ago and far away.

But after our day of infamy

My tears are here and now, today.

And we must understand what we have seen…

I had hoped to leave a better world…

I had hoped you would never know…

I had hoped we had rid the world

of the hater who hates us.

 

 We must find our joy together

And we must regain our hope

So that we can smile again and see,

That the hater who hates us

Is only part of history.   

 

This is our task in this our world