“The heart is like a garden, 
it can grow compassion or fear,
resentment or love,
what seeds will you plant there?
~Buddha
I don’t understand;
what exactly is it, that terrorists
would have us believe
they are gaining
through their actions
besides vile notoriety
and universal contempt.

I just can’t imagine
what it must be like
to capitulate one’s life
for something
that flies in the face
of absolutely everything
it means to be human.

Your swollen rivers of hate
have flooded
your valleys of reason.

There will never be winners here.

Everyone loses…
humanity loses,
this can never be 
the only way.

And yes I understand
about foreign policies
which ostensibly
would be the spark
said to stoke your insanity
and then so indignantly defended.

In the final analysis,
it’s not who started it
but who resolves it 
that matters.

And if these foreigners’ interests
are self serving and nefarious in nature
will your cowardly actions of taking lives,
innocent or otherwise,
create the throngs
flocking to embrace your cause?

And what would that world look like?

Love and tolerance
are the corner stones
of any religion
worthy of disciples.

Subjugation, exclusivity
fear and hate mongering
are distorted vexations of spirit,
and recipes for divisiveness. 

I don’t understand
calculated, unbridled rage
that recognizes no boundaries.

Regardless of how much destruction you wreak
you shall never succeed.

If you were the only one left standing
you will still have failed.
Copyright © Henri Ferguson 2017
All rights reserved.

Author notes

This latest attack in Manchester is yet another mind and heart numbing event. The insanity swirling about in our vexed world saddens me deeply. It occurs to me that terrorism is not a “means to an end” but an end in itself driven by personified evil imprisoned in very lost souls. You will never be heroes anywhere; you are creating a legacy of contempt and a mockery of your purported religion.
I vacillate between my beliefs in the power of love and equanimity, to disturbing visions of Armageddon. I feel we are being tested like never before, and pray that this will become a “galvanizing moment” for mankind where we resolve to manifest our vision of a peaceful and equitable world. We have the power and the resources to create this, all that is missing is the political consciousness and moral will to manifest it. I pray for this.