Indifference

Indifference

They say there was a massacre in India's Amritsar.
My fathers were indifferent because it was so far.
The dead all spoke in unknown tongues, were of a darker race.
They worshipped in exotic ways, a most peculiar place.

In Dachau they imprisoned many Gypsies, gays and Jews.
My relatives knew none of them and so ignored the news
Until the evil spread so far it touched upon our shores.
Is suffering unreal unless it suddenly is yours?

I've heard they're shooting children now who live in Palestine.
It's hard to get excited, because none of them are mine.
Reports of earthquakes, wars and illness may not touch my heart
Until I see in all of these my brothers have a part.

In Gujarat and Kosovo good people suffer still.
Of tragedy, man-made or not, the earth has seen her fill.
"Oh Father, give us ears and eyes so we may hear and see.
The things we do to others we are doing unto Thee"

Marilyn Gordon
February 19, 2001

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