seven levels of despair

the search each morning
to find the scraps
with which to survive another day

the knowledge on waking
that in this legal wilderness
no right exists

the experience over the years
of nothing getting better
only worse

the humiliation of being able
to change almost nothing
and of seizing upon the almost
which then leads to another impasse

the listening to a thousand promises
which pass inexorably
beside you and yours

the example of those who resist
being bombarded to dust

the weight of your own killed
a weight which closes
innocence for ever
because they are so many

[john berger, france, 14 october 2001]

      a remembrance to those who became the victims of 9/11, of the war in iraq,
      of bali blast '02, of jw marriott blast '03, and of the recent kuningan blast '04
      because we don't understand
      why the despair
      continues