War

Hello…
Wars, on any scale, are horrific. While they may be waged for just cause, the toll is always astronomical.
Perhaps saddest of all is the unconscionable destruction of innocent civilian lives.
This original poem captures the story of young Mahmoud Ajjour, and is a representation of the common devastation.
Peace on earth, how can it be? The killing persists. 

HOW WILL I?
 
I’m being haunted by dreadful nightmares / All connected with a bitter war
To which our land has been subjected / A siege like I’ve never seen before
 
There’s really no respect of persons / The Laws of War are violated
With mass destruction felt far and wide / We are doomed to be decimated
 
What cold disregard for human life / Recurring hell and fear now rooted
We choke in the tempest of trauma / As the battle is executed
 
Terrified by the raging assault / Many run, not ever looking back
Starved babies die in their mothers’ arms / Strength failing in this jarring attack
 
The sirens, the bombs, the drones, the strikes / With each onslaught, deprivation grows
We are crushed like grapes in a winepress / From the torture our neighbours impose
 
Thick plumes of smoke in a swirly dance / Mock us o’er the wreckage created
And wide-eyed corpses strewn about, foul / The mangled land, and air that’s tainted
 
Sweet childhood innocence has vanished / Oh what carnage and bloody display
My heart mourns like a flute that’s broken / Caught in the jaws of peril each day 

It’s all so maddening and gruesome / Here in the valley of death’s shadow
Praying and hoping for an escape / And for blest relief in the morrow
 
Petrified, I squirm with blinded sight / Wracked by pain, my spirit is blighted
I feel scared like a shrinking flower / Unsure if the wrongs can be righted
 
One day, midst airstrikes, while fleeing home / I turned back to urge my loved ones on
Suddenly, I was hit to the ground / Then in shock, like a light I was gone
 
Now, more horrid images visit / My last memory, an awful blow
There’s shouting, but not of joy, instead / Deep growls from a fate I’ve come to know
 
Mother, I wake, glad to see your face / But one key question must be stated:
How will I ever hug you again / When my arms have been amputated?

© 2025 - David McAdam
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#war  #peace  #amputation