REQUIEM

"Some losses cut as dearly as this, a son,
Two siblings that sheltered in the same womb;
But mourning, weeping, there comes an end of tears.
The Fates gave the human heart a means to endure."

--Homer, THE ILIAD, Book 24, [54-57]


From the safety of shelter the victors watch the storm; but stripped by fear and shame, they do not find peace at the end of the conflict. They are surprised at first, and then no longer surprised, by the persistence of conscience. And as the conflict ends without a sense of peace, the same pretenders find that they inhabit a cruel universe, where even their own gods have turned against them.

NOTE: These children were killed by American bombs in Afghanistan. Their father attends to their bodies. Photograph via freepressed