Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Diplomacy ~ Wednesday, 20 May 2020

When you blame someone for something 
utterly beyond their control 
you destroy a relationship 

When they in turn blame you as well 
there is no hope for the future 
the past is ruined by judgments 

By people with no right to judge 
for both parties have done the harm 
to the other and to themselves 

Years are lost without any hope 
of some reconciliation 
the damage done, the sorrow sown 

Decades pass, should you live so long, 
bearing a grudge best left behind, 
the pain within becomes torment 

The descriptions of hell on earth 
of demons tugging at your heart 
of demons tearing you apart 

She who takes the moral high road 
leaves no ground for others to walk 
upon to share in lessons learned 

He who cannot see mistakes made 
by himself and others becomes 
empty seeks solace in sorrow 

Drowning in tears, years of torment 
nothing can replace the years lost, 
no one can explain years of pain 

What is the point of living with 
this burden of pain and sorrow 
tomorrow is not the future 

Only today can the final 
blow be dealt, the final knockout 
punch where both parties reconcile 

But today never comes, the pain 
like precious stones too expensive 
to give away, suffering wins 

Each bears a stone, a Teddy bear, 
that comforts each in their need, time 
slips away, love lost forever 

Both parties need to set aside 
their swords and shields inside the house 
of the Lord, if to win the peace 

If war is to be fought and won, 
then hearts must remain hard as stones, 
Teddy bears they cuddle to death 

Peace and war, two sides of the coin, 
constantly flipping through the air, 
is there no other options found 

Is humanity so profound 
in ignorance never to see 
an end to demons who torment 

Is suffering the goal at hand, 
the penalty kick in the net, 
the top corner, too far to reach 

What is the meaning of a life 
lived solely to console one's pain 
and sorrow in silence, alone 

Surrounded by friends and loved ones, 
loneliness eats the love away, 
loneliness becomes a cancer 

A ballet dancer on the stage 
suffers such sorrow in silence 
who listens to one with such grace 

To face the cutting blade, a man 
or woman becomes a chicken, 
a rooster with his head cut off 

Even a child knows better than 
this, she knows to apologize, 
to forgive, let the matter fall 

But how many of us have lost 
the child within, the right to say 
sorry when we made a mistake 

Stones of loneliness deep inside 
cannot comfort like Teddy bears, 
can only conceal pain, a pearl 

Pretty necklace of cultured pearls, 
how many oysters have suffered 
for your elegance and beauty 

When will vanity and desire 
end, along with corruption, greed, 
hatred, anger, beauty in war 

There is no end to suffering, 
no cessation of our sorrow, 
we bear the pain like a cancer 

Like a prima ballerina 
no one can touch, her solitude 
like a fortress of fortitude 

How to eat, dance and be merry 
surrounded by friends and loved ones, 
when loneliness devours all hope 

The decision to lay down arms 
is always left to someone else, 
otherwise we are but traitors 

Cowards in retreat of battle, 
this war is a long time coming, 
since both sides could not make amends 

Your children die fighting your war, 
not knowing why they are alive, 
why they must perish in a war 

The battle lines drawn for decades, 
shift ten kilometers this way, 
and return ten kilometers 

So many wounded by this war, 
the dead are long gone and buried, 
the wounded eyesores to sorrow 

Is there nothing that can be done, 
so much collateral damage, 
so many lives lost for your pride 

Honor, an empty shell casing 
found on the battlefield, the street, 
the sidewalk, even in your home 

Empty the clip and move on, turn 
back to witness the damage done, 
we are all parties to this war 

Blame perpetrators and victims, 
no one can go without judgment, 
but who are the judge and jury 

We cannot judge our own battles, 
we have no objectivity, 
no clarity, no perspective 

Our ideas are muddled with mint, 
the greed of gold and property, 
natural resources, the spoils 

We fight our family, our mothers, 
fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, 
aunties, uncles, nephews, nieces 

The whole world is set aflame, fire 
made by oil, by bad blood, black sheep, 
we eat bile roasting on the spit 

The entrails found on battlefields, 
guts hanging out, no place to go, 
nothing to keep them inside, safe 

Is there no end to this, this war, 
the pain and sorrow, damage done, 


no war won by diplomacy 

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