
By the Rivers of Babylon I sit and weep for another home another time There on the tree I hang my guitar My tormentors bid me to sing their song Hate filled young men with bitter eyes and rifles and assault weapons Popular politicians who profess to be hunting with rifles and assault weapons for those who oppose their beliefs Men and women who storm the bastions of the republic and seek out their opposition for torture and hangings Men and women who are thrilled to believe any fact other than the truth What song can I sing to these prompts? I cannot forget a softer thought I cannot forget thoughts of a simpler way I cannot forget a universal solidarity that flames for an instance and then is carried off by the winds of discontent I’ll save my songs for a smaller gathering of gentler souls Who don’t need to agree Who coexist peacefully with differences on display I was not captured and taken to the rivers of Babylon. Those rivers came to me
By Jan Kraus
Inspired by Psalm 137