Dead Tourists

@RCPaddock

I had to ask dead tourists

what they thought of all the strife

around the Lake of Toba,

now that they had disowned life.

They drifted down to meet me,

or they rose from out the ground;

some were dressed in whiteness,

while some others were done brown.

They sighed as they commingled

and recalled the leaky boat

that ended their brief holiday

because it didn't float.

They bade me take a message

back to Bataks and all others,

to government officials

and their sisters and their mothers:

"Don't worry about Santa caps

or pigs while it's today.

No fatwa ever helped a man

to find a better way!"

"We can tell you from our graves

that peace and purity

depend less on decorum

and much more on charity!"

"Learn to love thy neighbor

or you'll find a heavy hand

is laid upon you constantly

in ev'ry Promised Land!"

And then their souls went back unto

the depths, or heights, again.

And I was left to ponder

on the silliness of men.

No matter our religion

or our prejudices rife,

if we don't work at stopping hate

we'll have no afterlife . . . 

(from an article in the NYT:  Indonesia Wants 'Halal Tourism.' But Some Want to Wrestle Pigs.)