peace (Remove filter)
The Gap
Don’t shoot!
Stop the violence,
Stop the killing.
Don’t waste your time with gods,
Or clerics on the greasy pole,
Or warped ideology
Which tells you what to think,
Or the cult of the madmen,
The travelling circus,
The usual suspects,
The old men in suits,
The gap –
Between the theory and the practice.
Be yourself;
Lay down your arms,
Reach out your hand...
Tuesday 5th March 2024 8:26 am
Dove
A viper slides its way beneath the grass;
The animals of prey are on the prowl.
The innocent and helpless stand no chance
Against the savage tastes of hawk and owl.
Upstairs, forbidden lovers take the plunge;
Their beads of sticky sweat adorn the bed.
She’s fast asleep while he boosts up his pack;
Outside waits a procession of the dead.
The hunters beat the heavin...
Monday 1st January 2024 8:59 am
Birds
Each time that I observe the world,
I should spy beauty, peace and love.
Each time I listen, I should hear
The soft song of birds, or at most
The low hum of conversation.
But when I crane my neck,
Look up, down or sideways,
In front or behind me,
Or at some frantic screen,
Or catch imagined exploits,
Mouthed off on a train, or neighbours,
Hyped up in angry gatepos...
Thursday 7th December 2023 8:44 am
Somewhere
Gaza: a father beats the floor in grief
As he feels his son’s last desperate breath.
It seems indecent to say any more,
As when, that evil Saturday morning,
A Holocaust survivor was cut down
During a crimson-coloured bout of rage.
I tell myself: this cannot be the best
That humankind has to offer. One day,
The innocent will inherit the Earth,
The puffball types in unifor...
Thursday 16th November 2023 5:37 pm
Circus
They weep in Israel;
They weep in Palestine.
They weep in Ukraine.
The whole world should weep.
Time drifts by, faster than we think;
Death queues for its daily spoils.
Someone always cleans up afterwards.
The stubbornly alive cling on to love.
Condolences rain down;
Groups huddle, trying to empathise
And multiply excuses,
While a few, buoyed up by the circus ...
Sunday 29th October 2023 8:29 am
If Only
If only we could get along
As neighbours, lovers and as friends;
To learn to sing each other’s songs,
And join hands as the world intends.
Some obstacle stands in the way
Of life in harmony and peace;
The children of all nations play,
But come adulthood this will cease.
For once toy guns and catapults
Are swapped for a more strong-armed state,
There seems to...
Saturday 14th October 2023 9:06 am
Anonymity
It’s only anonymity
Which makes us go to war;
When soldiers meet up face to face
They wonder what it’s for.
They talk of friends and relatives,
About whom they all care;
Discuss the beauty of the world,
Which they delight to share.
They do not bow to nation states
Or military types,
Whose mission is to keep them down
By tapping on their stripes.
T...
Sunday 5th March 2023 9:08 am
Plea to the Warriors
If you cry out loud that you favour peace,
A lot of people look at you and smile
And mark you as naïve and pat your head.
Yet surely peace should be the normal way;
Backers of war should justify their stance,
The four-star pundits, dealing arms of death,
Indoctrinating young (and mostly) men
To jump to commands and to kill each other
And all who block their path. The road t...
Tuesday 27th December 2022 5:15 pm
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