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Poems for Peace 2018

Victims

We are a people they won’t recognise us because they hate us all hate us
God gave us this land they want to take it when they had it they did nothing with it
They are not a people let them go into the desert let them go to America they are not the victims
They want to kill us we must defend ourselves we don’t have the Bomb only peaceful nuclear research
They want to drive us into the sea but the sea is also ours their ships may not enter it
Do you dare criticise us? You also hate us you are racist you should defend us
No peace for terrorists we will preserve it protect our civilians police our borders
We will force them to make peace this is the only language they understand © Leon Silver May 2018

War

It didn’t need to be like this
As she looked around the table
At her friends
All laughing, all smiling
The engagement rings
Well worn now
On their hands
How different it could be
If their fiancées had lived
But no, fate had
An other future
Not the happy celebratory weddings,
Not the children, faithful husbands
All gone, blasted in the trenches
Their cold and bitter deaths,
Those men lost so long ago
Now curling pictures
In black and white
Of soldiers and sailors v In uniform
And round the table sat
With lines and greying hair
The forgotten spinsters
Their lives spent in good works
With the love they
Carried with them
Burning still in their hearts v For those long ago and
Never-fulfilled promises
© Roisin Robertson

Poetry for Beginners War: Peace

When I think of war, I see…………………………….
Rubble, where buildings used to be Anguished faces, scattered clothing, one shoe without laces A town abused, people’s lives in tatters. That’s what I see.
When I think of war, I see ……………………………….
Amputees; limbs once whole now ending at the knee. A body with appendages, not human; A man or women struggling to walk; a spirit smashed. They cannot talk with ease. That’s what I see.
When I think of war, I see …………………………………
A room that houses computer screens and switches Men acting so like robots – just one finger twitches, When called upon to press the button down. A drone is dropped - they’ve just destroyed a town. That’s what I see
When I think of war, I see ……………………………………….
Walls that just get bigger every day. Camps where hunger and disease are shared around. Displaced and dispossessed. Crying is the only sound. A no-man’s land that once had been a town. That’s what I see.
When I think of war I see……………………………………….
No point in arming soldiers, or civilians, in the name of being “free”. Enlightenment not ignorance should be fostered, shared around; Not heavy bombing destroying lives of humans and crushing each last sound. That’s what I see.
Patricia McKinnon-Lower November 2014

War or Peace ? Which to choose?

Which is better?
War or peace?

WAR What does it do?
People get killed whether they fight or not,
Families lose loved ones
Houses, villages, towns, cities, Countries are devestated.
The only winners are the arms makes.
Everybody else loses.
Hatred lasts for ever.

PEACE
What does it do?
People live longer and happier lives.
People live together happily.
Communities live in harmony.
There is a greater chance of prosperity.
People get better with each other
The whole world benefits

Be a winner
Choose peace
Richard E. Hart

Doves of Steel

The Aldermaston fence
Guards Britain's plutonium secrets
The circling pipe-line glints silver Fulfilling its sinister purpose Part of the multi-million complex Code-named A90
The secrets seep out
Penetrating
Vegetation
Water
Lungs
Concerns grow inside the fence Concerns grow outside People are dying from radiation Dying for missiles that may never be used Dying to prevent war Dying for a misconceived illusion And by their death
Creating a-state-of-the-never-ending war A peaceful war of anger The symbols of peace Flap on the fence
Blown by a wind of human hope Each carrying a message or a name Opposing the uncompromising folly within The paper doves
Frail in contrast to
Trident D5 missiles
Doves of Steel in the determination of The people who placed them in protest Remain essentially fragile as is the balance Between life and death [Aldermaston - Easter 1988] © Ann Garrett

La vie en Rosa

When petals melt to autumn gold,
when sunshine gleams so harsh and bold,
when birds have flown to distant lands
and furrows hide my aging hands
I remember times that went before
at the dawn of hope and belonging.

When laughter drains to senseless sighs,
when smiles belong in others’ eyes,
when happiness has gone to store
and no-one sees me any more
I remember times when I was me
At the dusk of hope and belonging.
© Geraldine Cowan

Fukushima

Fukushima I imagine you
Before
Before the tunnels, pipes and towers
Before the whine of nuclear powers
Before the radioactive showers
Fukushima I think of you
Before
Once a narrow waist of land
Tied with a blue – green ocean band
Where blossoming fruit trees used to stand
Fukushima I believe in you
Before
When farmers harvested the field
Brought home the healthy rounded yield
From gentle scars quickly healed
Fukushima I remember you
Before, before
The flames began to rise
Before the shouts and children’s cries
And evil fungus in the skies
Fukushima I try to think of you
Before
© Fay Roberts [2018 ]

WHY DIDN’T THEY LISTEN TO US?

Blair, at last under the mike-scope!
Why didn’t they listen to us?

On the fifteenth of Feb Two thousand & three
Two million of us told him not to do it:
Why didn’t they listen to us?

The previous September some told him no to:
Why didn’t they listen to us?

What was Brian Hall Frequently saying?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many Brit lives were lost in Iraq?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many Iraqi lives lost in that war?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many U.S. lives lost in that war?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many Brits injured and suffered there?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many U.S. injuries there?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many Iraqi orphans there now?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many deformities there now?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

How many terrorists incidents since?
Why didn’t they listen to us?

Oh Why?!!! Oh Why?!!! Oh Why?!!! Oh Why?!!!
Why didn’t they listen to us?

Why don’t they hand over to us?!!!

Bunny Easton

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