looked on, detached.
He stood on their side and saw.
Of our side he only perceived
what from yonder was clear

Not the rights, the history,
our belief in the promised land,
their local significance
in the execution of God's plan.

He saw and wrote of bodies and homes
in rubble, saw the human stream inundate.
He saw and recorded the sober
facts, and while he wrote the rumor came

that there were forces approaching,
driven forth by a terrible hatred
that would wipe out God's chosen.
Then he left and looked at the case

from our side and saw that
which was only visible from here.
And he wrote and he was detached,
as an observer should be.