To Win is to Lose

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL

To Win is To Lose

 

It does not matter what happens next

We know what follows down the road

The blood has just begun to flow

The death, the tears, the cries of woe

 

No one will remember why

No one really knows

We will think of it and sigh

As the need for vengeance grows

 

You cannot win this kind of war

Though victories are proclaimed

Each blow will wound you to the core

The aggressor always faces blame

 

A hundred years of misery

That’s what we have in store

A hundred years of payback

For starting this brutal war

Victims of War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL

 

Victims of War

 

Hamas is not Palestine

Yet the Palestinians will pay the price

For this brutal attack on Israel

Israeli citizens are not Netanyahu

Yet Israelis will pay the price

For Netanyahu’s militancy

The victims of war are often not

The perpetrators of war

 

The citizens of Gaza live in poverty

Subjected to constant abuse

Death and destruction are part of their lives

They did not vote for this war

They do not deserve what follows

 

The citizens of Israel are proud

They have a legacy of suffering

Most Israelis did not vote for brutality

Most are frustrated by their government

Most only want to survive in peace

But all Israelis suffered from this

unconscionable act of war

 

The innocent of both sides

Will continue to suffer and die

Until the leaders of both sides

Finally find a path to peace

Unintended Consequence

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Unintended Consequences

 

War is a blunt instrument of change

Even when victorious on the battlefield

It produces unintended consequences

It changes oppressors into the oppressed

Transforms the oppressed into oppressors

It alters the balance of powers

In ways we could not anticipate

It strengthens aggressor nations

It destroys natural alliances

 

Hamas has ended Israeli democracy

No longer will Israelis take to the streets

To protest the strongman of Jerusalem

No longer will the people push for change

Hamas with this ill-advised attack

Has unified the Israeli people

Has strengthened Israeli alliances

Has weakened the resistance

And given Netanyahu all he wanted

 

This war is a colossal blunder

Not only will it end the lives of innocents

It will turn the world against you

Now you stand with the outcasts

Now you stand with death and destruction

Now you stand against order and justice

No longer can we plead your case

You have chosen the way of war

Supernova Massacre

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Supernova Massacre

 

A celebration of culture and music

In the desert on the border of Gaza

Those in attendance were not soldiers

They were not warriors or politicians

They were young people looking for fun

Looking to forget a world of hatred

A world of violence and war

 

Hamas chose to attack the festival

Hamas chose to kill and capture civilians

Hundreds lost their lives

Hundreds will never see tomorrow

Hundreds will long be mourned

A river of endless sorrow

 

You cannot massacre innocent civilians

And still proclaim your righteousness

You can no longer ask the world’s sympathy

For your cause and plight

You have lost your cause

You have betrayed your people

You have unleashed a chain of endless

Retribution, violence on violence

You have become what you despise

What all civilized people despise

A killer of innocence

 

Gaza

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Gaza

 

War is the ultimate subversion of democracy

War is the supreme crime against humanity

War is the end of justice and the beginning

Of anarchy

 

War suspends all reason and compassion

When the blood begins to flow

When the body count builds

When the mourning bells chime

And the sorrow begins to sing

We lose all perspective

We feed the war machine

 

We know there are grievances

We understand the cause

But when innocent people die

(and there are many innocent people)

We lose our capacity for empathy

Our minds bend toward revenge

 

We have entered an age

When there is no justification

For acts of bold aggression

The world must find another way

To remedy injustice

To set the balance right

To apply reparations without war