It dies, if we let it, decency.
Sometimes I think it is almost gone.
Everyone is seeking distraction,
Ideals are articulated with a gun,
Or bigger, indiscriminate, bombs.
For many, morality is too harsh a brake on fun.
And for the righteous, too lenient on sin.
Now, for some, rignteousness dictates
Masked blind action, the arbitrary obliteration
Of random and ordinary Russian children.
What is done is done.
We must resist the shockwave that kills it
And seize it, decency, before it is gone.
What shall I do?
Involve myself in the politics of Chechnia?
Write to the Prime Minister?
Join with fervour the War on Terrorism?
No! When I meet you and you and you,
I will look you in the eye
And treat you with courtesy
- The simple courtesy that is so deep
That it makes every death shocking
That is cruelly inflicted
And we species of primate human,
And humans decent.
And please do this to me.