Poetry Matters

In 1956, the Hungarian Revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks in a massacre of defenseless protesters who were left to their fate by The West. As a 14-year-old Irish school dropout, I recall one stanza of a poem—really a cri de coeur—whose desperate plea still haunts me.

“Dear God, can we stand idly by…

And watch a gallant nation die?

Is all the western world asleep

While heroes bleed, and women weep?

Now, here we are, 66 years later. Same situation. The West is not so quite inert, but hardly confronting the barbarism of Putin. The poem of ’56 is just as apt now as it was then. How many cities will have to be leveled? How many murdered in their homes and playgrounds before we say, ENOUGH, to the monster of Moscow?

What are today’s Ukrainian poets saying about Putin’s invasion?

I thought you’d like to know. For poets have a way of speaking the truth, and being remembered.

Remembering Paul Farmer

Remembering Paul Farmer

A magnificent star went dark when Paul Farmer, the great humanitarian, physician, and anthropologist, died in his sleep last Monday, February 21, on the grounds of a hilltop university health complex he’d helped establish in rural Rwanda.

He was only 62. It seems he suffered a massive heart attack.

Since I first learned of Dr. Farmer’s work with Partner’s in Health (PIH), the extraordinary nonprofit he co-founded back in 1987, I was inspired by his vision, mission, and values which go to the heart of every social justice credo I’ve ever read.