Issue 3
Hanieh Bastani
Hey you, my friends on the right
Take a look at each other
Then a look at yourself
Hey you, believers in god
And you, the non-believers
Take a look at each other
Then a look at yourself
What if time was frozen
And we became an observer of the game
Rather than the player
Fighting for his claim
If our faces were the same
Can we recognize ourselves in this game
Based on how we act
And not on which side of the line we stand
If our tongues were tied
And our useless slogans died
Could we identify each other
From the way we treat our neighbor?
Or would we see that most of humankind
Although each with a unique face and mind
Are so similar in behavior
And the way we treat one another
What good is our system of beliefs
Our beautiful words and ideologies
When they don't translate to behavior
And actions of respect and dignity
What is the value of the goals we struggle for
When we betray their essence
And use them as the means for our presence
In every rank of power
What is the difference between two humans
With different visions
Different paths to their aspirations
When this path results in the same actions of destruction
Through the same talk and selfish motivations
Different humans create the same grief and corruption
Through war and deception
They create for humanity great destruction
An observer sees identical fools
Because their actions do not represent their values
We are all this fool to some scale
It is the sad human tale
We struggle in the name of peace
Then point an accusing finger
And ask when the violence will cease
We draw lines and wonder when in unity we will bind
Through revolution or evolution
Time is witness to the same story
When different values and envisions
Result in the same behavior of destruction
Few of the youth will cry
Is this the future for the human nation?
While most fall trap to new ideologies
Which promote the same old discrimination
The adults will say
Life was better in the old day
When will they find out
It was the childhood innocence that kept the evil out
Some have chanted
This evil is a sign that the end is near
But was it not at the creation of the first man
That the seeds of evil were planted?
Some put the blame on a certain belief
They see it as the reason for the human grief
Don't they know once one division line is gone
Another one will be drawn
And through time, the one innocent of the accused crime
The injured and the orphan
And the mother who lost a daughter or son
The heartbroken and the one whose rights have been taken
Helplessly they wonder
Was this our fair share?
Was this the burden we had to bear?
It is me and you
Who hurt others with the things we say and do
Rooted from hate or ignorance
Power or unawareness
We can start a war, or break a heart
We tear humankind, or a human, apart
The human torn apart is you and me
The humankind torn to pieces is our family
We are no stranger
To the cause of our destruction
At some time, at some scale
We have practiced the same actions
We recognize evil when we are the target
Yet when we practice it we forget
We declare our enemy as a human face
When it should be actions rooted from intolerance
Human values may regain their meaning
If we acted with respect and dignity
If our behavior reflected our values truthfully
Instead of enmity and hostility
Perhaps then as life's observer
We can identify ourselves and say
I am that individual far away
From the corrupt behavior of the day
While everyone talked words of intellect
I am among the few who acted on what I said
These few who are my friends
Are as different from me as can be
But while the rest of humanity drifted apart
Our humane behavior mended our hearts
