Holy Mission

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Holy Mission

 

Your cause may be righteous

But it does not belong to god

You mission may be pure

But it is not god’s mission

Whatever god is or is not

Whosever god receives your prayers

And listens to your suffering

There is no god of war

War is man’s invention

The mission of war belongs to men

The cause of war is man

When you raise the name of god in war

You blaspheme his (or her) holiness

When you appeal to god in war

You diminish the nature of god

Save your prayers for the cause of peace

Pray that no more innocents will die

Pray for an end to suffering

Pray for an end to war

Now and forever

Let it be so

October 7

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

October 7

 

Before October 7

Young people filled the streets of Tel Aviv

Every day and every night

Protesting the anti-democratic laws

And hardline policies

Of their warlord prime minister

 

Before October 7

The people on the streets of Tel Aviv

Were the future of Israel

The young were the people of peace

They believed in fair representation

They believed in equal rights

They believed in an independent

Palestine

 

On October 7

Hamas pointed its deadly force directly

At the young people of Israel

Hamas attacked a gathering of music

And celebration

Hamas killed hundreds of young Israelis

Hamas killed the future of Palestine

 

After October 7

There can be no peace

For as long as the sun will shine

For as long as the rivers flow

For as long as lovers love

For as long as the moon will glow

There can be no peace

 

Across the great divide

I hear your voice saying

There was no other way

But there is always another way

You could have joined the young

Israelis on the streets of protest

You could have joined your voices to theirs

You could have made your voices heard

You could have demanded change

To Netanyahu you could have said:

No! No more

 

After October 7

You have no voice

Hamas has stolen it away

All that remains is endless sorrow

 

Orwell

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Orwell

 

We’re expanding the war

To keep the war from expanding

The commander saw no wry humor

No sense of contradiction in his statement

We’re increasing the bombardment

To bring peace to the region

Orwell would be proud

 

The war will end when

We have defeated the enemy

When we have defeated the enemy

The war will come to an end

This is the way of war in the 21^st century

We fight until there’s no one left to fight

We destroy the enemy head to toe

We yank him out by the roots

 

Yes innocent people will die

Yes civilians will suffer mass casualties

In modern warfare there is no alternative

The enemy uses its people as shields

But in the end they will thank us

In the end they will call us liberators

The commander saw no irony

No sense of the absurd in his statements

Until a reporter finally asked:

How can dead people thank you?

How can ghosts greet you as liberators?

 

The commander had no more to say

He turned on his heels and walked away

War is peace, said Orwell from his grave

War is peace and the dead cannot be saved

Strength of Soul

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE WAR

Strength of Soul

 

The times demand a strength of soul

To push away these forlorn blues

A way to map the days ahead

Despite the tragic news

 

The war seems like it will not end

The innocent keep dying

A breath of hope we wish to send

To keep ourselves from crying

But words of vengeance do not bend

The bullets keep on flying

It seems this heart will never mend

The cause is mystifying

 

We wonder how we can endure

When every day seems worse

We pray for mercy and a cure

To lift this ancient curse