New poem: "The Writer's Tragic Flaw"

 

The Writer’s Tragic Flaw

 

It came to me as I watched his interview

talking about his new memoir “Knife,”

the story of his tragic near-death experience

of being stabbed 10 times or more on a public

stage by a crazed assailant who wanted

to avenge his Muslim faith for the writer`s

blasphemous book “The Satanic Verses,”  

and the blackened right lens of the writer`s

glasses hiding the visual damage the assailant

had done to his eye with his knife revealed

the tragic flaw of the writer’s character; and I

smiled at the irony when the intransigent writer

confirmed his belief when asked if his tragic

near-death experience had changed his mind

about God, and he replied no. If anything,

the tragic flaw of the writer`s spiritual blindness

had only made him more defiant, not unlike

the Fallen Angel who preferred to reign

in Hell than serve in Heaven.

 

Composed in Georgian Bay, Ontario

Monday, April 22, 2024