WAR
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The mother sitting on the rubble haunts me to doom
A child in her lap sucking the dried-up breast fills my eyes to gloom
With half-veiled face filled with misery
She rummages for a piece of life in the debris
And her eyes emptied of life look to the distant horizon
Numb, dumb and grief-stricken
Crushed ,crumbled and totally thrashed.....
She clings to life to wipe her child’s tears
A soldier in arms- pathetic, helpless
Made to fight for the maniac’s fancies
Forlorn hopes, fallen martyrs
What do they fight for? Or for whom?
Two little eyes searching for father
Two little ears listening to missiles
Two little legs running for life
What do they gain in victory or defeat?
A widow on the blood-stained body
Wailing to bring him back to life
A mother with forlorn hopes
Weeping in vain for him
A father with unshed tears
Children with insecure future
Is it all we get from war?
Listen to the rumbling in the distance.....
Painful sigh for a missing brother
Desperate search for a ruined sister
Loud groaning of a lonely child
Heaving sigh of a widowed heart
Call of hunger? Thirst? For shelter?
The mysterious rustling of the refugees
The moving legs walking to infinity
With dim, lighted lantern and tight grip of little fingers.
Is it not war that destroyed them?
Is it not hatred that crumbled their life?
Is it not bloodshed that crippled them?
Is it not cruelty that numbed their spirit?
Is it not pride that initiates war?
Is it not greed that ignites enmity?
Is it not jealousy that destroys nations?
Where are the Gods? In Hell or in Heaven?
Prostrate at your feet, my tears soak your feet
Allah! Jesus! Krishna!
Come out of the book or the altar of the church
Step out of the temple and the mosque
Walk among us in flesh and blood
Chanting words of love and kindness
Filling our hearts with affection and sympathy
Teaching us the meaning of sacrifice
To live together- a life of peace and happiness.
Author notes
a picture of the destruction caused by war,the reason and the result of and solution to avoid WAR
Written August 20th, 2006
option 2.this is my thought abut war
AP name -nilav
A contest entry
- War, Dying (In general), and Anger (Also in general) by TransparentHeart.
459 points, ended December 16, 2006, 22 entries
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What did you think
Comments
1 - 24 of 24
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"Is it not war that destroyed them?
Is it not hatred that crumbled their life?
Is it not bloodshed that crippled them?
Is it not cruelty that numbed their spirit?
Is it not pride that initiates war?
Is it not greed that ignites enmity?
Is it not jealousy that destroys nations?"
It's extremely repetitive, but the way you structured this reminded me of Gruffudd ab Yr Ynad Coch's thirteenth century lament for Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. -
"I sit here quiet and alone,
praying one day I'll make it home."
This has to be my favorite line.
I also liked certain repetitions, questions, and above all the presented imagery. You took from the war the perspective of the poor innocent native, victims of war. But aren't we all?
Great write
-Thank you for your entry, Angi Terese
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you have penned an excellent work of heart on war, and its awful consequences, capturing much of what it entails right down to the entrails of a man disembowled., by cruel weapons that steal family and love and life. Alas there is little solution among m
Autumn.
Spring came with Eden
a new world was born
life was abundant and free
rains of creation
caressed every nation
men grew and spread
like the sea
~
Summer came quickly
and stayed with the Earth
as centuries of time
passed on by
freedom was founded
men lived under God
and cities reached
high to the sky
~
But late in the Summer
Men turned from what's right
hate reigned with a fiery brand
wars raged everywhere
men killed without care
pollution had poisoned the land
~
We are the children of Autumn
a season known most as the Fall
winter draws nigh
in it's storms Earth will die
if we do not prepare
one and all
~
Winter will come without mercy
evil will rule man with fear
God in his wrath
will step down in its path
and take all of his children from here
woe to those caught in the middle
woe to the ones left behind
They'll be wishing for death
at every breath
but the Winter
will stay for all time
~
We are the children of Autumn
a season known most as the Fall
winter draws nigh
in it's storms Earth will die
hear the winds howl
take heed to their call
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artis
References in scripture:
(Spring came with Eden)
Choice two: Genesis, Genesis 2:8-And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 2:10
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 11:1-9 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. men grew and spread like the sea
(God in his wrath will step down in its path)
30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and
all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will
gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the
other.
(men Grew and spread like the sea)
Genesis 11:8- So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [c] -because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole
earth.
(winter will come without mercy, evil will rule man with fear)
Mark 13: 8- For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
(woe to those caught in the middle, woe to the ones left behind)
Luke 21:23 23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (tsumami)
26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (God in his wrath will step down in it's path and take all his children from here)
(woe to those caught in the middle, woe to the ones left behind)
Revelation 9:6-
-And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
There are thousands more passages and scriptures to back up the prophecies in this poem, to many too number here, the establishments of the church, and freedom and so much more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artis
Author notes
Granted free will men will pursue what they wish most even in the most horrendous conditions, and God loves us all, but expects us to use our free will, to set examples of what a child of God should look and act and be like. We are saved by grace though, not by works, but we must beg forgiveness when we fail due to the free will we were granted...and yes we are headed into the last days of the world as we know it, and we will grieve for the many nice folks we know who do not truly know God. He says in Revelations that there will many churches that are lukewarm and he will spit them out, as well as false prophets leading many astray. The bible is printed in all languages worldwide, and is available for free in most places to all who wish to read it. There is no excuse for not knowing the truth except be unwilling to be free of sin.
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Powerful, intensely sad write. I'm afraid that those at the center of these conflicts would not recognize God in any of these entities if he walked among them in the flesh. Greed and evil corrupt. And it's scary.
God is our hope, but the hearts of those who seek to destroy each other don't seem open to that hope. God's piece will reign. We have been promised that.
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thank you for the appreciation and applause..
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You put your opinions in such a poetic device, I really like it. I especially like sixth stanza. Thanks for entering the contest, good luck
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the images of tormoil certainly breads allot of questions
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Outstanding
This....is too true. I cannot help but agree, even though I do not believe that the war I am going to in a week is a righteous one. I believe in fighting and protecting those who cannot do so themselves. I love how you write about the effects of war, when more people that are pro-war (or as we call them, 'too damn moto') never stop to think about. Keep writing, my friend. I will return home.
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This is a very heart-felt write. I am always against war...people can try and rationalize it from now until the end of time, and it is still just plain stupid and useless. The effects of war are never what the politicians preach them to be. I love my country and I am proud of the war veterans and I support them as much as I can afford. I am just a plain old country girl and I don't claim to be wise by any stretch of the imagination, but WAR will never bring about anything but more and more war. It is a vicious cycle that has come round and round from the beginning of recorded history, and if it worked as a viable solution to the problems of man-kind, I believe it has had ample time and opportunity to prove itself beneficial. I am not saying that I will not fight to protect my loved ones and that I do not respect the men and women of the military, my nephew is a U.S. Marine and he is awesome! A boy who is just like a son to me did two tours in the middle east and he is a wonderful loving man, but he is so emotional devastated by what he saw and things he was forced to do to stay alive. I found this poem very difficult to read because my tears were flowing, and I agree with you 100%. I think that you wrote a very heartfelt and emotionally charged piece here and I wish that a lot of people would read your words and take them to heart
Love,
Azlyn
PS Peace,sweet peace,come to us all and have your way!
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Moving, thoughtful and wrong...
There can be no disagreement with your early words, for they ring true in any man's ears. The pain, the misery the suffering, the uselessness of conflict is evident to all, at all times and so unnecessary and so without purpose or meaning.
But at the last, you offer dual meaning when the import and impact of faith is to accept and tolerate, to 'turn the other cheek', to live for an ever after, a place better than this, to adapt and adjust and accept and to compromise, a Nirvana of returning and beginning again in another path, is all a passive woman's acceptance of a world in which she cannot rule.
And in doing so, you ignore and demean those who stand night after night and day after day at the watchfires to keep the feral beasts and bay and yet do not know, or will not see that evil exists in men as well and must be guarded against, always and ever.
You do not know nor appreciate that those of us who stand guard of your peace and tranquility, sacrifice our sense of sanctuary when we realize we must do so for you and the children and the old the infirm, but we, gladly, for we know that which you do not, that we must if we are to protect that which we love.
Sensitive and wonderful you are in you gentle view of a hostile world; but naive and innocent also for you do not see beyond your gender.
amicus...
(I know, you won't like this even a little, but somewhere, somehow, someday, someone should tell you thus, and here and now...it was I who did. And I know you will not understand for you could not and would not as you would not remain as you are. I have learned to live with that.}
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touching
I think this how I feel about him going. I'm proud but still think of him as my little boy, too young to see and be involved in things like you describe. I did cry, but it won't be the last time I'm sure. Thank you for showing this to me
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good impact
it is a good impact,in simple flowing words.
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Wow! Is all I can say. It brought me to tears which is not easy to do. This was a very moving and emotional piece that I think that everyone needs to read. Keep up the amazing write.
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bravo
A nice caution against the evils of war, or as Wilfred Owen said "the pity of war, the pity war distilled..." bravo ...
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This is a great poem. The words are reallly powerful. My favorite line was:
"And her eyes emptied of life look to the distant horizan." -
I usually don't like rhyming schemes in general but here the occasional rhyme actually worked to enhance this piece.
the question section tires after a while. possibly interjecting these questions throughout the poem instead of running them all together in one section would be better. -
I'm sorry but I can do much more then lay down the rules. It is up to the writter of the poetry to follow them, and you didn't. Im sure that this is a good poem, but to be honest with you i dont have time to read poems that dont follow the rules due to the amount of poetry i have to go through to judge this contest.
-TransparentHeart -
You write with such passion. I am a Soldier and have been for many years. You asked why we fight, We do not fight for a flag, nore do we fight for pride or the glory of war. I fight and have fought so my son has the oppertunity fo grow up. If I die in some foreign hell that is my fait. If I stop just one terrist that is less people he can suppress or kill with his actions. You do write with such passion and have so many valid points and I can feel the pain within and between these lines. If you ever need or would like to talk and let your hair down let me know. I would love to listen.
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This is certainly what you said it is - really spells out destruction and despair - horrible!! So well described throughout!! Thanks for the invite to this one - I thought it was excellently penned! Blissful Princess
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If only it would touch the hearts of all who seek to dominate. Unfortunately the likelihood is more improbable than not. This is an amazing piece. So much emotion, destruction, imagery. Your talent oozed into this and overfloed the bowl of poetic waters to make a mixture of soothing honey lemon. I have no choice but to applaud.
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I would love for you to check out my page and enter the contest I have going before it closes...( I won't be offended if you choose not to)
You send a loud and clear message here, filled with great imagery and holding the reader prisoner to feel the pain...
awesome job, just awesome! -
Although I highly doubt that any band or any poem will stop a war, it's people like you who will help make people realize just how much they've succumbed to their greed. An then, hopefully, war will stop... and impossible objective in our lifetime, of course.
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i am happy if it makes an impact on people so that war can be avoided .thank you for your very effective comment
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This imagery is the entire reason why the Japanese thrash meta lband greif of WAR immediately protested out war in Iraq with their only, yet great, album. Your poem was bristling with images, sodden and depressed, yet beautifully depressing.
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