The horrors at the Bataclan
May finally wake up the human clan
There is no middle ground
For this type of evil to sound
The heavy hammer of humanity
Must be forged in the fire of unity
There’s ever present danger of further calamity
Seven continents must hold hands, in amity
To prevent further catastrophe
Whose pain cannot be lightened by any philosophy
How much more pain can we bear?
Our hearts are already bleeding and bare
The pacifism of some
Cannot put the perpetrators on the run
This evil is a black cloud
More dangerous than the carbon shroud
To rid the world of this scourge
Will be a painful purge
It is worth the cost
Human values risk being forever lost
Spewing evil through their eyes
Their wall of indoctrination is impermeable to spies
They toe a different line
To a world where it is sin to even smile
Bringing shame
To themselves and a book of great fame
In our eyes, they may be lost causes
To them, they are flawless
An argument with no winners
Longer it lasts, they will attract more sinners
A tree may be uprooted when young and tender
A thick trunk will not easily surrender
Innocent boys and girls will have to be cajoled
Before they cross the threshold
From where it isn’t easy to return
Thoughts once set, cannot quickly burn
It will be a generational struggle
For the soul of mankind, now on the bubble
Resolutions must be quickly made
Before further minds are swayed
Ours hearts and hands must genuinely embrace
And not just masquerade
If we are to put together a coalition
That puts aside religion
That freedom must be accorded to all
As long as it isn’t used to justify acts that appall
Who are we fooling?
All our time clocks are unraveling
We’ll be judged by the world we leave behind
History books aren’t afraid to be unkind
There is real danger of a future that’s broken
Who would want their descendents to be heartbroken?
Many lives have already been upstaged
The dead don’t return even if the whole world is outraged
Pleasantness has been snatched out of memories
By the world’s newest enemies
They can never take center stage
By putting the innocent in a fearful cage
A hidden strength will surely surface
That along with time will slowly efface
The pain and suffering
But won’t erase memories of faces once happily smiling
Now in another world heavens apart
It was surely not their time to depart
From the Bataclan, while reveling in joy
Meshing music and mind into a beautiful alloy
What must they have felt? When the music was abruptly hushed
And deeply forged physical bonds instantly crushed
Lives that may have been greater than yours or mine
Prematurely ended before it was their time to shine
Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers
That night, terror cut through relationships of all colors
Forever scarring our memories
Filling it with scenes from that tragedy
The world must act
With both power and tact
History has given us many lessons
About what we must choose as weapons
Incendiaries may not be the only answer
Whether bombs or remarks, evil will still fester
It is the battle for the heart of our culture
Winners will usher
The future for all
Hopefully it is a peaceful windfall
The dust may not settle tomorrow
Planet’s still at ground zero
We must replenish the hearts and minds of the good
So they may populate the land where evil once stood
- N. Seshadri
