One Wall - Two Sides

 

 

     You never knew him,

You never cared,

But you thought it best his image to be shared,

     They threw him down

And stripped him bare,

Put a round between his eyes –

And called him foe,

     And peace be just an easy fellow

Who knew a wealth of wisdom,

But thwarted still – the simple life

With wife and child;

And the building of a home!

 

     His only family mourned -

As the ignorant deemed

The men in uniform be demonised,

(And righteously so),

     Yet,

For all things said inhumane,

His rise from a lowly vantage

Made his standard too impeccable

For each and every critic, to follow,

     And both he and

Fellow comrade lay

Before the priest,

Their bodies slowly

Becoming cold as blood left

Each a corpse upon

A day of funerals and death,

 

     And it’s hands across the water,

Friendships driven by the gritting of

Teeth and the snarling of the Vatican

And politician,

     And everyone forgets

The deeds done upon

A blasphemy they carry out

In the name of God,

 

     Not in my Gods

Name can anyone commit murder,

Not in the name of Peace

Be the killing of ‘any’ be plausible,

Not upon that day can you simplify

The sad indictment of Man

As a justified act of war,

Nor can you declare behind your sneers

And laughter,

     Just cause for a fellow Christian

To pull a hateful trigger!

 

     Quiet be the smiles

From the Corps as tears fall

From their eyes,

     Remembering the duo

Who didn’t want the rounds discharged,

Silent be the facts that many

Know within the ranks;

That those that wear the

Uniform and beret,

Talk of inner city ghettos

And families that split,

 

     But loud,

Louder than the bullets

And grenades,

     Be the years both sides

Of the province have been deceived

And tricked - by lies from both

The politician and the church,

Each declaring communicate

With deities that hold the peoples

Interests,

     Bolstering belief in make believe

That arms each new generation.

 

     And no amount of history

Or sociology or politics

Or religion has taught the people well,

For even upon this day and age

They’re waving flags

And badgering and baiting each –

For conflict and more appalling still,

     Behind closed doors

And prying spies,

     Upon one wall – two sides;

They are making murderers of babes.

 

Michael J Waite 13th January 2015.

 

Dedicated to those whom have upheld a contract with peace; and brokered the two sides of the divide do not turn the province into a bloodbath!