Hate's Day

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Hate's Day

Hate had its day, 9-11-01
tall buildings crumpled
thousands of lives snuffed out
oh yes, hate had its day

How much hate 
can a world withstand
and stay 
in its orbit?

Where does hate come from?
What can we do
to keep it from rising
until it kills the world?

Now we know how it feels
we know what others have lived with long
now we know safety is an illusion
and money and power cannot protect.

You cannot pile up enough of it, ever
to protect against twisted minds
bent on spreading hate and destruction
willing to sacrifice their lives for their "cause."

So now, we choose again
whether to follow suit
and spew indiscriminate hate back
in ways that kill more innocents

Or to seek a different way
some way that will not add layers
to the volcano of hate
and the lava of vengeful retribution

What will we choose?
We stand at a vital crossroads,
able, again,  to choose war
or work toward peace.

Justice must be done
perpetrators brought to account
can this not be done without war?
can this not be done with measured clarity?

Can we not choose, each heart
whether to add to the levels of hate
or to increase the levels of clarity
and balance, and seek peace?

Could we not harness the global outrage
at these senseless acts
and turn it into cooperation and collaboration
and a shared mission of shared safety?

I believe we have that choice now.
If the world's leaders can see it,
we have this choice now.
May it be visible to them.

c 2001 g. mills

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