Just so you know …
Dear Mr. President,
We have not lifted a finger
to hurt you in your home:
we are not you, will not be you;
we have raised our voices
with a global unity
that our harmony will prevail
over the destruction you desire.
I have heard that these marches
will simply fall on deaf ears,
but they are not for you –
with your soul given over
to the demands of the devil –
rather, they are for us
so that we may be reassured
your evil will not continue
past that time which you have stolen
from each affected being:
those moments with her children,
those moments with his wife,
those moments of joy,
those moments of sorrow
all stolen by your hands.
Don't you know that a soul
can never be yours to keep?
that it will always go the way of kindness
into the memories of those who love?
Did you not find this
in your flee from the degradation of war,
in the joy of your children's first words,
in the passion of making love?
Rest comfortably while you can:
the darkness at the end of life
will not be so easily endured
as the face of each of your victims
comes forward to forgive you –
may you find the will
to forgive yourself.