{"id":173407,"date":"2020-11-30T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T12:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=173407"},"modified":"2020-11-22T11:57:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T11:57:44","slug":"afghanistan-elegy-unfinished-tapestry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/11\/afghanistan-elegy-unfinished-tapestry-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan: Elegy . . . Unfinished Tapestry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afghanistan has been in modern western media headlines from the earliest days of “The Great Game,” a euphemism for 19th Century Britain and Russia’s imperialistic invasion, occupation, domination, and destruction of its lands, peoples, cultures. \u00a0And now the USA asserts its failed presence in the 16-year war with Afghanistan, by dropping the largest non-nuclear bomb on some distant mountainous location; another demonstration of its inept and tragic reliance on militarism.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan will remain, if only as a symbol, a memory, a lesson of the USA’s final gasps as a failed empire, collapsing from within because of its immoral aspirations and pursuits. Read Ozymandias<\/em><\/a>, and tremble!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0I.<\/strong><\/div>\n

Afghanistan!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Afghanistan!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Beyond deliverance?<\/p>\n

Unfinished tapestry?<\/p>\n

Awaiting looms,<\/p>\n

Threads, strands, fibers,<\/p>\n

Weavers!<\/p>\n

\u201cStan\u201d among \u201cStans:\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Baluchistan<\/p>\n

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uiguristan, Wajiristan, Uzbekistan . . .<\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/p>\n

And long ago, Pashtunistan<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Place, land, country, nation, people<\/p>\n

Home!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbeks, Kazaks,<\/p>\n

Aimaks, Turkmen, Uigurs, Balochs:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Intrepid warriors in turbaned Pakols<\/em><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

Tribal names and blood lines<\/p>\n

Exotic to foreign ears and minds:<\/p>\n

Proud peoples:<\/p>\n

Human in every way:<\/p>\n

Vessels that bleed,<\/p>\n

Flesh that burns,<\/p>\n

Bones that dry and wither!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fathers, sons, husbands, brothers,<\/p>\n

Mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, family, friends!<\/p>\n

Decaying in rock piles, shallow graves, smoldering huts!<\/p>\n

Flesh for foragers \u2013 vermin, insects, vultures,<\/p>\n

Sacrificial testaments to sacrifice . . .<\/p>\n

Canonized names tearfully recited,<\/p>\n

Immutable gazes narrate history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Branded barbaric in scripture and custom,<\/p>\n

Among those seeking envied geography,<\/p>\n

Ignorant of peaceful warrior traditions,<\/p>\n

Tribal loyalties,<\/p>\n

Village identities,<\/p>\n

Family ties,<\/p>\n

Ordered lives<\/p>\n

Inscribed memories!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Flag-waving invaders:<\/p>\n

Parades, anthems, medals, promises,<\/p>\n

Tanks, artillery, cadenced-stepping soldiers,<\/p>\n

Red coats, pith helmets,<\/p>\n

Camouflaged, dark glasses!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harbingers of death,<\/p>\n

Departing as they came,<\/p>\n

In disbelief!<\/p>\n

Their nation\u2019s history:<\/p>\n

Sullied, soiled, stained!<\/p>\n

Their soldiers:<\/p>\n

Minds, limbs, senses \u2013 shattered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Afghanistan remains!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strategic passage:<\/p>\n

West to East,<\/p>\n

East to West,<\/p>\n

Imagined buffer for empires!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mountains, valleys, rivers, plains,<\/p>\n

Formidable, challenging, impassable!<\/p>\n

Boundless contradictions!<\/p>\n

Resilient native character,<\/p>\n

Granite temperament,<\/p>\n

Enduring \u2013 outliving time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Insatiable invasions!<\/p>\n

Beyond Shakespearean imagination!<\/p>\n

Ravenous control!<\/p>\n

Voracious appetites,<\/p>\n

Unquenched avarice!<\/p>\n

Ravaged by war!<\/p>\n

Destroyed in resistance!<\/p>\n

Conquest denied!<\/p>\n

Eternal trauma,<\/p>\n

Body, mind, seed!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Women defiled,<\/p>\n

Lives planted,<\/p>\n

Between struggling thighs!<\/p>\n

Entry forced,<\/p>\n

Identity undefined.<\/p>\n

Misery daily fare,<\/p>\n

Smells known!<\/p>\n

Blood, cordite, semen!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

III.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Should we shout, scream,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Accept savagery,<\/p>\n

Tolerate insult, assault, rape?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Should we speak?<\/p>\n

With diplomatic restraint!<\/p>\n

Deny committed sins?<\/p>\n

Forge unholy alliances!<\/p>\n

Sign new maps?<\/p>\n

Defy ancient order!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Mr. President;<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you Mr. Prime Minister;<\/em><\/p>\n

It is kind of you, General!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that is my secretary, General;<\/em><\/p>\n

Her family and five children lost.<\/em><\/p>\n

She is unsure: drones, IED, bombs?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mute now!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sullen witness!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have all seen so much,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For so long,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We wait!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand your concerns<\/em><\/p>\n

For Russia, China, India, Pakistan!<\/em><\/p>\n

Narcotics trade!<\/em><\/p>\n

Human rights!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terrorism!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tactics, strategies, policies,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To contain . . .\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome your military,<\/em><\/p>\n

We accept your apology<\/em><\/p>\n

For Kandahar, Kabul, Herat . . . !\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Please, Sir, allow me:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have you tasted \u201cQabili Palau<\/strong>?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our \u201cnational\u201d dish!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you like lamb?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In silence:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are caught! <\/em><\/p>\n

East-West balancing act!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ancient customs!<\/em><\/p>\n

Tribal rivalries!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunni-Shia hatreds!<\/em><\/p>\n

War-lord ambitions!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revenge required!<\/em><\/p>\n

Life, death . . . . \u201c <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sacrificial lamb for the world!<\/p>\n

Bleating!<\/p>\n

Bleeding!<\/p>\n

Centuries lost,<\/p>\n

Cultures destroyed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reached by Alexander the Great,<\/p>\n

Megos Alexandros<\/em>;<\/p>\n

Macedonian legacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generations of green eyes!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Silk Road passage,<\/p>\n

Khyber Pass!<\/p>\n

Mythic place for Kipling\u2019s tales,<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s gift to Britain\u2019s people!<\/p>\n

Borders, demarcations, sovereignty!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

England\u2019s legacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debate for a nation\u2019s conscience,<\/p>\n

Gladstone lectured Disraeli:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the rights of the savage. . . . Remember the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows, is as inviolable in the eyes of Almighty God as can be your own.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s legacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conscience!<\/p>\n

Sublimated guilt with arrogance!<\/p>\n

A new word for armies: \u201cSanctity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eager to continue their<\/p>\n

Messianic mission:<\/p>\n

\u201cTake up the White man\u2019s burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A \u201cGreat Game\u201d — played without Native consent!<\/p>\n

A ravenous game for nations:<\/p>\n

Britain, Russia, Germany, India.<\/p>\n

Prize for Queen, Czar, Raj, Kaiser, Ministers, Presidents!<\/p>\n

Imperialism\u2019s darkest hours,<\/p>\n

Unfinished!<\/p>\n

Awaiting America!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But first: \u201cEmpire!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Boundaries fashioned under duress!<\/p>\n

Durand Line! 1893!<\/p>\n

Sir Mortimer Durand,<\/p>\n

British India diplomat,<\/p>\n

Skilled in deceit,<\/p>\n

Tea at Parachinar!<\/p>\n

\u201cMay I remind you:\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou really have no choice!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new Northwest-Frontier Province<\/p>\n

Harsh reality soothed by tea!<\/p>\n

Abdur Raman Khan,<\/p>\n

Afghan Amir,<\/p>\n

Compliant, impressionable, malleable!<\/p>\n

Pretense at face!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can accept this line.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Treaty — written in English — signed!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do, Amir Khan<\/em>, understand our decision? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward, Minister Durand,<\/em><\/p>\n

To an era of mutual cooperation!<\/em><\/p>\n

All will benefit!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pashtuns . . . Balochs . . . warrior tribes!<\/p>\n

Division essential:<\/p>\n

Northwest area must be separated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity of India!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJewel in the Crown!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMore tea?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTwo or one?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

A nation, people, history sacrificed!<\/p>\n

Beseeching victim!<\/p>\n

Splayed on altars,<\/p>\n

For wealth, power, position.<\/p>\n

Illusions of empire!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Soviet Union \u2013 USSR \u2013 invasion:<\/p>\n

Modern arms, ideological intention;<\/p>\n

Aspirations! Delusions! Hallucinations!<\/p>\n

Nine years, 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In response: America arms Mujahadeen<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Communism must be stopped!<\/p>\n

Al Q\u2019aida<\/em> born!<\/p>\n

ISIS<\/em> nurtured!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Taliban <\/em>required!<\/p>\n

Hatred<\/em> sired!<\/p>\n

Cold wars spill blood:<\/p>\n

Victims of grand designs!<\/p>\n

Millions in dead!<\/p>\n

Millions refugees, displaced!<\/p>\n

Faces, now statistics!<\/p>\n

Collateral damage!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amid upheaval,<\/p>\n

New powers emerge:<\/p>\n

Warlords, religious zealots, village chiefs, foreign forces!<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is in charge here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soviet legacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Humiliation!<\/p>\n

Accusation!<\/p>\n

Defiled name!<\/p>\n

Satanic nation!<\/p>\n

America?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coalition, consortium, confederation . . .<\/p>\n

Conspiracy of the \u201cWilling,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Conscienceless term: \u201cWilling!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

NATO!<\/p>\n

Code for death and destruction!<\/p>\n

Demoncracy<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

V.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Afghanistan!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s troops will remain and help!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Centuries dismissed . . . with impunity,<\/p>\n

Tribal inheritances insulted!<\/p>\n

Local ways ridiculed,<\/p>\n

Traditions . . . crushed<\/p>\n

What savage God . . .<\/p>\n

Ordained you, savior?<\/p>\n

Afghanistan! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Afghanistan!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Decay, decline, lawless!<\/p>\n

Men, women, children,<\/p>\n

Villages, earth, fields — fodder!<\/p>\n

Imperfect resurrection!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

America\u2019s legacy: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Purveyor of sullied fruit!<\/p>\n

Unrepentant!<\/p>\n

Apologies?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur intentions were good!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Expressions of guilt impossible!<\/p>\n

Semblance of villainy denied!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNever say you are sorry!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never say you made a mistake!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never question our rationale!<\/em><\/p>\n

How could you explain <\/em><\/p>\n

To limbless soldiers,<\/em><\/p>\n

Media, taxpayers, lawyers?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tolerance is gone!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Colonialism, imperialism, capitalism,<\/p>\n

Corruption, opium, slavery, prostitution!<\/p>\n

Choose your \u201cCides:\u201d<\/p>\n

Ecocides, fraticides, infanticides<\/p>\n

Suicides,<\/p>\n

Genocides!<\/p>\n

Afghanicide<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Noun! Verb\u00a0!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To all coveting this fabled land,<\/p>\n

I say:<\/p>\n

Fall on your knees!<\/p>\n

Beg forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Pray to the god of your choice,<\/p>\n

Beat your chest for penance.<\/p>\n

Shed tears.<\/p>\n

Renounce violence!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behold your tainted tracks!<\/p>\n

\u201cCivilized?\u201d<\/p>\n

An unfitting word!<\/p>\n

\u201cBarbarous\u201d more apt!<\/p>\n

What lesson remains?<\/strong><\/p>\n

. . . .\u00a0\u00a0 Rashkalnikov! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commentary: <\/strong> Afghanistan — history, country, people, culture — is difficult, even under the best of intentions and talents, to confine to poetic words. How does one share imprints of a people, land, nation, torn by endless periods of social upheaval, destruction, death — victim of its own and foreign hands? Understanding legacy is essential, yet insufficient!<\/p>\n

An elegy is a sad poem \u2013 a poem expressing sorrow, grief, and longing for someone who is dead or dying. Many would say the term \u201celegy\u201d is premature. They claim Afghanistan has survived numerous invasions and occupations by foreign powers and internal regime changes. Yet, Afghanistan remains! This is true! But what Afghanistan remains?<\/p>\n

Borders are erased, new boundaries accepted! Nations emerge and disappear, even as remnants of cultures remain. People assume new faces and bodies. This is history! A story well-known in Central Asia! Revisionist map-makers omnipresent, eager to display old and new lines \u2013 latitudes and longitudes!<\/p>\n

I offer a second sub-title in this poem: \u201cUnfinished Tapestry,\u201d<\/strong> hoping Afghanistan may find stability and security among its own weavers and looms. The tapestry metaphor was gleaned from the words of the talented poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, in her published sonnet, Huntsman, What Quarry?<\/em><\/strong> Afghanistan\u2019s looms have proven inadequate; its prior weavers unwilling to accept their tattered failures, continuing to weave with soiled hands, torn threads, and broken looms.<\/p>\n

I offer this poem to Afghanistan with apologies. Nothing can heal loss, grief, and sorrow \u2013 a decimated population, a denied national identity, a future uncertain. I apologize for all who should, and do not!<\/p>\n

Can Afghanistan\u2019s destiny be shaped by its own hand? I know only no permanent solution can be found in violence and war. Choices define futures! Can an \u201cUnfinished Tapestry\u201d find healing, peace, dignity? I do not know! Until such time, as South African Bishop Tutu said amidst his country\u2019s darkest hours: \u201cWe remain prisoners of hope.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a member of the TRANSCEND Network<\/a>, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. He is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 15 edited books, and more than 250 articles, chapters, book reviews, and popular pieces. He can be reached at marsella@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write in sympathy, empathy, compassion, and shared hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":115838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[93,868],"class_list":["post-173407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-afghanistan","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}