On The Assasination Of Benazir Bhutto 12/27/07 Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

here let us chronicle the
futile detonations
of the Rose

who will outlive you
in a farther kingdom

in every age, the same

who is standing guard
oh stand with me on this
bridge of air on the sharp blade
of a world-wide

intake of breath suspended
only don't look down-

take my hand
don't take my hand
it doesn't matter

in the country of Benazir
the heart of the Rose is
shattered again

the heart of the Word
a golden script signed off on
mid-sentence

a math problem for the more astute;
how many armies would it take to defend her
and:

if such a heart could not be defended,
what are these garrisons for
let the stars collapse inward
to gather ebbing light

for the rose is broken
from the Stem
yet not from the root

we
occupied unbelievable space
as the shadows in your eyes darkened
prefiguring death

unbelievable space as
the heart of the Rose stood still
at close range

not at close range?

it doesn't matter when
even at a distance we
hear the ripped mantle of
weeping

as though it were in the next room

take my hand
do not take my hand
I would fall from this

bridge of air, alone
or lean into the wind from
the high tower of sorrow

to learn your radiance

let these frail
improvisations endure
the wide-world over

the soul is sovereign over
every terror
the soul that loves in the face
of death
blaze and blaze on

Benazir

mary angela douglas december 29-31,2007 11: 28 a.m.12/31/07