The Weary Year

It has been a weary year:

Syria, Libya, Palestine, Thailand, Ukraine, Central African Republic,

And now South Sudan—

All places where the two big promoters of violence have worked:

Tribalism and religious ferocity.

Tribalism: the extreme attachment to one’s own people.   

Religious ferocity: the conviction that one’s tribe is chosen.

To be a special people, given a special land,

Charged with a special mission. 

It has been a weary year.

Tribalism and religious ferocity have done their work, and

They continue to do their work,

Blood on their hands, conviction and hatred

Blazing in their eyes.

--December 27, 2013