“We must love one another, or die.”

So ends some versions of the W.H. Auden poem “September 1, 1939.” The line—and the entire poem—provides an apt lesson for those on both sides of the Ground Zero Islamic cultural center debate, suggests Lea Carpenter at the Big Think, an online forum. Carpenter probes to the heart of the mosque kerfuffle with depth and precision, using Auden’s poetry to light the way:

Yet if this is a poem about evil, it is also about love. We must love one another, or die. Auden attempted to have that line removed from the text, but later editors put it back. It is the line that matters most. The essential interdependence of our lives—and nations—trumps feeling, and law. What we all want more than a mosque or the absence of a mosque is a voice: an expression of remorse from those aligned with those who committed this crime. We will call it this crime, because it remains. (The war is our red reminder.) Auden may not be the poet for the mosque but we will hope one does emerge. Le Monde’s memorable, ironic, front-page opinion piece from September 12th, 2001, could run today regarding this issue:NOUS SOMMES TOUS AMÉRICAINS.