Glosa for Peace #8
On 25.3.24, after months of geopolitical manoeuvring and squabbling over semantics, UN resolution 2728 was passed, demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favour and the US abstained. The previous Friday, Russia and China had vetoed a ceasefire resolution proposed by the US, and three earlier motions had been vetoed by the US.
Cabeza
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart
Until, in our own despair, against our will
Comes wisdom through the awful grace of God
from Agamemnon by Aeschylus
I think I hear you listening to me,
as I tap out
these invisible lines,
from one who writes
safely from afar:
it was the worst of times,
we thought it could get no worse,
it’s impossible for words to describe the horror
of pain induced by mortal terror,
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget.
I take my line for a walk
into antiquity,
and ask you to make
my lines cohere.
Let our sense be simple:
know tragedy reoccurs,
it is circular.
Weigh our words:
the world passively stood by while pain,
Falls drop by drop upon the heart.
Let my voice work
on the inner anvil of your ear,
a truth that penetrates,
with rhyme comes reason,
hammered out more clear.
When shall we have had our fill
of tyrants waging war?
When no more blood is left to spill?
When shall the scales fall from our eyes,
Until, in our own despair, against our will?
Voices, so many voices,
cry out from the wilderness;
the sound of shifting sands,
grows into a roar.
How shall we free ourselves
from self-defeating anger?
How shall we forswear revenge?
Don’t ask us to forgive, we who are
too busy dying — too long to wait until,
Comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.
Thank you — I’d be intended in their comments.
Another powerful poem highlighting the agony of war and hopelessness of the self destructive human condition. A plea for one to inform the other. But the dialogue between cause and effect never seems to happen until some people are being pulverised into gore and dust. The tyrants with dreams of conquest and glory are always with us. The tragedy is that we don't choose to stop them.