Palmyra

Those who would rather die than disavow

The gods they worship deserve an entry

In a book of martyrs. But so does someone

Like the museum director who wouldn’t flee

His beloved Palmyra when the zealots of ISIS

Were closing in. He stayed behind

To attempt the impossible: to persuade the victors

That every form of worship deserves defending

Against the enemy of them all: obliteration.

Believers won’t think of him as a martyr

Because he regarded none of the temples

He tried to save as the house of a living god.

And nonbelievers will tend to suspect him

Of having a favorite among the many

Various gods under his protection:

Sun gods and earth gods, gods quick to anger

And gods with an endless supply of patience.

All the more reason for my friends and me

To lift a glass on his birthday

To the spirit of a faithful non-redeemer

Who wouldn’t abandon the temples

Empty for centuries, who cherished them

Because they were cherished long ago.

“Now we are few,” we’ll acknowledge,

“But one day, if we succeed in describing

How he served the goddess of memory,

Mother of the Muses, as she deserves

To be served, we’ll be many more.”