More than statues

The Taliban live to worship a godThey read about in a book:A god who turns dust into manAnd man, when he sees fit, back to dust.The next trick is another we don’t see:His hand is far too quick for the eyeTo see the dust transformedInto an eternal bliss with virgins.

But to stand and look upon the airWe still can see the twin buddhasOf Afghanishtan so bravely turned to dust.As real as Banquo’s ghost to brave Macbeth,They mock the men who mock the god creation.And when we see the women, poor shadesCondemned to live in the shadows of their world,We see that they too could be made of stone -And if life could be born from a wailing prayerThey’d surely be ground to the darkest dust.