The Tao is Tao--by Jos Slabbert (verse 42)
42

Does everything come from the Tao?
Babies bloated with hunger,
their mothers haggard with grief?
Boy soldiers, drugged,
hacking off human limbs?
Warriors in the sky
inflicting suffering on the defenseless?
Innocent beings,
smelling death,
lined up for the butcher’s knife?
Does this infinite suffering come from the Tao?
And do those tiny emaciated corpses,
their suffering done,
return to the Tao?

If we are empty,
then why does so much blood spill from us?
If reality is in my mind,
then why do corpses smell?

How can I polish my mirror
when there are bloodstains on my coat?
How can I hide in emptiness
when suffering is so real?

If reality is illusion,
then why do the cries reaching my ears
not become faint?

How can I search for peace when
people are searching for food?

Only when we live
in harmony with the Tao
will harmony come.
There is no other way.
Only when compassion and wisdom
flow in abundance
from emptiness and silence
will cruelty fail
and mercy prevail.