Both Sides Disappear

Both Sides Disappear

Horror has a brutal face for peaceful people
Pummeling Palestine and Israel
Homes, hospitals, schools
Men, woman and children are
Targets of opportunity
Lovers of life and God
Celebrating what we all share
Shot, bombed, kidnapped and killed
Terrorism is the reason
Warfare the response
Two countries joined
By genocide, prejudice
And The Holocaust
The bullied becoming bullies
An eye for an eye becomes
The mutual policy of extinction.

Israeli and Palestinian in mortal combat
Pronouncing judgment against the other
Preferring to distinguish the difference
Between just war and unjust terror
They blend the two as a cocktail
In the name of God instead
Their bullets, drones and bombs
Decimate the innocent
A bad marksman aiming at each other
Destroying barely decent places
Bleeding each other freely
Bellies go hungry
Beneath a shared sky
Benevolence barely registers
Lip service laying waste
Across each other's landscape.

How does a child apply for assistance
Shot through walls by missiles
Never allowed to read a school book
Because lights give away positions
Starvation is the preferred choice
Shalom and Salam Alaikum
Say the same but who means it?
In the name of God each side
Brings warfare instead of welfare
Catastrophe instead of care
Compassion is outdated
Shoot to kill is the order of the day
Practiced at night in place of sleep
The world reacts and responds
Confused by propaganda
As help is sadly turned away.

The beaches beyond are empty
Serenity of the sea is of little use
Food and medicine
Denied any entry to help
Feeding the angst
Justifying defense
Bread and water are held hostage
As the innocent become targets
Labels justify violence
Can you blame anyone
Who desires freedom to live?
Feed someone’s insecurity
And the endgame becomes feared
In a world of prejudice
People are worthless
War, poverty and injustice
Means both sides disappear.

Copyright © 2024 Charles Edward York
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