Poetry

Gustave Deghilage photo

By

John Watt

Do we ever learn?

I sat by the fields of Passchendaele..

The poppies danced in the breeze..

I heard our brothers scream among the blood and bone…

They looked to the heavens. Nobody came to help..

I left the war to end all wars…

I sat by the entrance of the concentration camps.

Somewhere in the distance someone played a violin.

Our hearts bled..

I saw the fires of hell..

Half burned brothers and sisters.

Mothers and fathers clutching their children in a death embrace..

They looked to the heavens..

Nobody came to help…

I sat by the blossom trees in Japan…

Their sweet smell filled the air.

I saw our brothers and sisters kneel in prayer as hell dropped from the skies…..

I watched our friends burst into flames.

They looked skyward..

Nobody came to help…

I sat by the fields of Cambodia..

I stared at the myriad bleached skulls of our friends and family..

Nobody came to help ..

I watched mothers weep for their dead children.

Nobody came to help..

They all looked to the heavens..

I watched Iraq burn.

Nobody helped…

I sat by the fields of Eastern Europe..

Watching the walking dead go by.

Nobody came to help..

I stood by and watched Syria’s children fall….

Nobody came to help..

I sat and watched the Palestine children murdered.

Mothers.. fathers.

All had cast their eyes to the heavens..

Nobody came to help..

I wept a million tears..

I sat among the ruins..

I wept again at our brothers and sisters lying in the cold embrace of death..

The undignified death of bombs and bullets..

What had we done?..

The devil had won..

The Court of Retribution…Israel

I was asked to be a witness at the court of retribution..

I sat transfixed as witness after witness was called..

All asked the same question.

Why the children?..

The Israeli people sat, heads bowed..

Thousands upon thousands of Palestinian people..

All weeping…all holding their children close..

All looked with contempt at the Israelis in the Court of retribution..

But all asked the same question..

Why?..

No Israeli could answer..

All sat with bowed heads..

The witnesses left the court..

Mile after mile of proud people..

Woman, children all filed past the Israeli people in the court of retribution..

They stood on their own..

The ground opened up…the fiery stench was overpowering..

All knew where they were going..

The fires of Hell awaited..

Not one was spared..

All marched slowly towards their end..

Perhaps all child killers will smell that stench one day?..

Then we will file out of another court of retribution..

One day the dance with the devil will stop…one day

John Watt

Hello my friends. I am a single parent of tender, undisclosed years. My son is eighteen and looking for employment. I live in Scotland which I love, as can be seen in a lot of my short notes. But I also write about the lost, lonely, and dispirited. I feel for them all. My childhood features prominently in my writing. Politicians waffling rubbish are a target for my ire. I have had some short notes published. I enjoy writing, obviously.