• Denial       By HENRY FISCHER

• As we lick our wounded pride
  And mourn thousands who have died,
  Few can bring themselves to think
  That there is any kind of link
  Between the hate that's toppled towers
  And any policy of ours.
  
• Instead of which, we're told that we
  Cause some to hate because we're free,
  And that the cause of their assaults
  Lies in our virtue, not our faults;
  We're strong enough to match their acts,
  But lack the strength to face the facts.
  
• For if we did, we'd see the core
  Of this lies in another war,
  A war in which we have denied
  That we are siding with either side,
  While one side's clearly in our pay
  To take the other's land away.
  We arm the predators to prey
  On those who must be kept at bay.
  
• So as we raise our battle cry,
  It seems to say: "Deny, deny"!

Dr. Henry Fischer, the author of several books of poetry, is Curator Emeritus, Department of Egyptian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vice President of AMEU and occasional book reviewer for The Link.