These words…

July 27, 2014

These words are written
for Margaret Hassan, friend
of the Arab world, born in Ireland
married to Tahseen Ali Hassan, citizen
of Iraq, a woman who gave…

The Watchers

April 11, 2014

I see them watching over us. They stand high
on the rooftops of tall buildings, on the median strip
of highways, spaced at intervals, at the perimeter…

Sometimes, Bush…

June 18, 2007

… when I see you
in your photo ops
I am inspired
to feel sorry for you:
those moments when the fear…

Here He Is…

April 18, 2006

Well, here he is, neatly
packaged in his small
box, ready for the Xmas
market, the all-new
George W. Bush talking…

Yes, Bush,

April 18, 2005

I am deeply
sickened by those images
now emanating from
your conquered Falluja:
the torture cells, the blood…

An Eleventh Plague: At Passover

April 17, 2005

I have seen them in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
I have seen them in London, Paris, Rome.
I have seen them on the streets of New York City,

in the parks, in the subways…

“Bound and Gagged”
(after Ed Moses)

April 16, 2005

They stand there, gazing
out at us balefully, from behind
their enclosure of wooden struts
and chicken wire, bound and gagged
by the ties that hold them carefully…

Anniversary

April 14, 2005

Let us not pray,
since prayer offers us
the comfortable exculpation
of piety. Let us not say, once again,
Never again: we have shown ourselves…