Xenophobia

Perpetuated myth

of stranger evil,

daggers drawn

for devils in

disguise.

Weird, lurking

creatures, strange of

habit, beware their styles,

their foods, their tongues that lie.

Remember to dissuade

all hope of union,

foreigners fierce,

fulsome

of eye.

Bewail

portents, signs,

curses may befall us,

enlist the guard, pogrom,

genocide. Ensure a culture dies.

Propaganda, stereotypical isolation,

belief that diverse

means

alien,

 spy.

Really?

Are we all so

very different?

Two legs, two arms,

One heart, we live, we die.

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Hunted

fakir flaunts his power and releases

demons, drawing to souls where light has dwelt.

pleas of mercy, screams, no one appeases.

compassion none, despite the souls who knelt.

victims all to stalker on his prowling,

no hiding place, no basement refuge near.

cerebral pain, nerves to jangle, howling,

bitten wounds on worm’d flesh assault appear.

hunted down, unmasked, a scented quarry,

conceptual hounds bay their callous cries.

nowhere on earth prey may pray or worry;

supplication sought, revealed sordid lies.

medicinal, no sugar coated pill,

mouth, ears, eyes now wide open; hunted still.

Ashes Of Peace

Ashes of peace,

Treaty entreated,

No phoenix to

Surface in flight.

End of the conflict,

Gives no concord,

Truce settled for less

Than they might.

 

Divergence of interest,

No contradiction,

Consistent

In their discord.

Battle still rages,

Though behind lines,

Neither believes

One word.

 

Fear and mistrust,

Goodwill gone astray,

Ceasefire may last

For a while.

Without true intention,

A closer inspection,

No solution.

No style.

 

 

All Our Children

My news is filtered these days,

By choice.

I cannot hear it, listen directly,

My voice

Would be choked and broken by

Tears of despair,

So I receive it, relayed

From I know who, I know where.

Identical moments of difference

Repeated,

Once felt and imbued,

Knows all life is cheated

When mongers of evil

Grasp the horns of their ask

And wickedly skip

To fulfil their grim task.

Drowned in a flood of heartbreaking stories,

Portrayed by some media

Voyeuristically,

They glory

In visuals and depictions of hell

I have seen,

Can’t watch it, can’t listen.

I know what they mean.

One story, one picture

Is all that I need,

Imagination and empathy

The rest provides and will feed

The words that I hear

In my head to shout forth,

‘Is that all that matters?

Is this our real worth?

As humans, as beings,

As souls here for a while?

The best we can do?

Some weep as we smile.’

I can’t unimagine

All that I have seen.

I wish that I could.

Do you know what I mean?

That visions of hurting

And hell so alive

Would end with great loving

So all could survive

To reach out, support

All. We are but child,

No matter persuasion.

True children are mild.

Not always in action,

I’m not that naïve,

But, in heart, where with loving

All dreams can conceive

A home-loving family,

A hearth to play by,

A meal on the table,

A mother nearby,

A father to guard

And protect our intention,

To grow close together.

And dare I just mention

That nations, though living

With minds far apart,

Share familial love

That springs from the heart?

Our greatest confusion then,

Seems so to say,

That my family matters

Much more than do they.

Lies. Lies.

Terrible lies.

Those who purvey them,

Life must despise.

Look at a child,

Look into its soul,

Watch as they play,

Is this really our goal?

To end such small humans

Before they should grow

Into the enemy

We fear but don’t know?

I hate this with passion.

I hate that we hate.

I hate that compassion

Is left at the gate

Of battlefield’s anger

And greed and distrust.

If fighting there has to be,

Why then can’t we just

Send one small David

And one giant Goliath.

Let them sort it out

With stones and with malice,

If that’s in their hearts

Well, fix it that way,

But as for the rest,

We just want to play

With children around us

Their trust in sweet eyes,

To teach them to love

Not hate or despise

Another world brother

Because they don’t feel

Exactly as we do.

Get over it. Let’s heal

The wounds of division

With pens and with words,

With kindness and mercy,

Not weapons or swords

That pierce at the breast

Of parents all over

While children flee,

In terror, for cover.

Oh, Spirit, please help us

To look with new love

To defeat source of evil

With strength from above.

 

Here and There

It’s midnight here

And worlds apart we sleep.

I’m smiling here,

While other people weep.

I’m wishing here

For better days ahead.

Still smiling here

As thoughts roll through my head.

I’m playing here

With visuals in my mind.

Contemplating here,

A video on rewind.

I’m resisting here

The sounds around I hear.

No silence here.

 

You’re wondering there

Why no one seems to care.

Shuddering there

At danger in your air.

You’re crying there.

I hear you far away.

You’re beseeching there.

I’m wishing as I pray

That, over there,

Change is on its way.

Video reading. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1430688390489666&set=vb.100006455577938&type=2&theater