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Some poems seem to stay topical

Some poems seem to stay topical, even when you'd prefer they didn't. This is one of them.

 

Abdullah

 

Omar is a fighter,

Arifa is a nurse

And Abdullah?

Abdullah is twelve

 

Omar is dangerous.

Arifa is a healer

And Abdullah?

Abdullah is twelve

 

Omar kills hostages

Arifa tends the wounded

And Abdullah?

Abdullah is twelve

 

Omar’s full of hatred

Arifa, full of love

And Abdullah?

Abdullah is twelve

 

When the Tornado shed its load

Omar the fighter died

Proud and defiant

Arifa the nurse died

One carer less.

And Abdullah.

Abdullah was twelve

◄ Sea Battle

On line poetry - and history in the making ►

Comments

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 5th Feb 2017 18:34

"War is all hell" - according to General William Sherman
US Army commander in the American Civil War. And
numerous conflicts later, nothing has diluted the truth of
his words.
In this instance perhaps -
The tragedy of young Abdullah
Has origins in that word "Mullah".

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Tony Earnshaw

Sun 5th Feb 2017 15:07

Thanks for the comments. I've not been very active on this site but am encouraged to change that!

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raypool

Fri 3rd Feb 2017 22:10

Relentlessly logical in the way it's presented, this is a simple but perfectly laid out poem to capture the ghastly realities of life and how logical yet illogical these motives are. Quite agree with the other comments. The straightforwardness is its strength.

Ray

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Randall Eckstein

Thu 2nd Feb 2017 11:57

It's so joyous when something we consider so far removed from us can be given a face. When terror, war, poverty, aggression can be humanized, it can be addressed by so many more people. This poem humanizes a tragedy that continues to happen. War may be wrought by regimes, nations, or groups, but it's individuals who end up paying the butcher's bill.

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