On Causes: Europe 2022

1914 and 2022.
In mental dug-outs, the arms-trading élite
are playing the parts they know, the affluent few
hurling their memes like rocks as they retreat
from thought and any common explanation
of why we are where we are. Their worlds repose
on ammunition and money; the whole creation,
this azure planet, a mere material cause.

What quietness or method can restore
Europe and make each choice correlative
with something in our situation more
than ourselves? Give-and-take and take-and-give
to serve both future and historical
justice. Real shame before that final cause
which only is the poor. To make all well,
mercy must give shape to our angular laws.

Philip McDonagh is adjunct professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Dublin City University and director of the Centre for Religion, Human Values, and International Relations. As a diplomat, he served as ambassador to Russia and Permanent Representative to the OSCE. He has published several volumes of poetry, including The Song the Oriole Sang (Dedalus Press, Dublin, 2010)