Jacek 1

Who are the good people Merwin has in mind? It is us; we all like to think of ourselves as good people. But does our belief meet the test of reality? Near the end of his poem Merwin says that suffering "escapes their attention." He does not mean this literally, since suffering is not the kind of thing that can escape. In fact, suffering usually grabs our attention, but somehow we aren't seeing it. Why? We all know it exists--but maybe we prefer to look away and pretend it doesn't. Merwin then says in the next line that "there may be reasons for it." But what reasons could these be? What reason would allow good people to not act to stop suffering? The "victims under the blankets the meat counters the maimed children the animals." Can we be justified in not acting? Under normal conditions perhaps we can't--don't good people we have certain obligations? It seems to me that Merwin is pointing out the failure of our moral perception. But what happens to our moral universe when we become blind? I think Merwin wants us to make a choice.