Poetry

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By

John Watt

No more dogs barking

I am sitting on my settee…safe…

But Palestinian children are forever on my mind..

Bob Dylan is singing about Dignity..

I despair. It’s gone!..

The dignity of the Israeli people is gone..

Replaced by a nothing…a blank nothing..

I struggle now for words..

We have said it all and still the bombs drop..

Still the children fall..

The United Nations discuss..

The bombs still fall..

The Israeli representative talks with as much conviction as if he were having a conversation about a dead cat at the side of the road…even less..

Dignity is not on show..

The Palestinian representative speaks. His voice breaks..

He is emotional..

The dignity shows through..

What do we do now?..

The compassionate..

The caring..

The lovers of this world..

We weep..

What are we supposed to do?..

The world seems terrified of the Israelis.

Terrified to talk…to condemn…to accuse…to point the accusing finger..

What are we to do now?..

Wait till there is no more Palestine…no more people.

All dead or pushed into the sea..

Who will we blame?..

If the Palestinian people vanish will you weep?..

Will you struggle to sleep at night?..

Will the faces of dead Palestinian children visit you in the night?..

Somehow I don’t think so..

Get the popcorn?…pull up a chair?..

The news is on..

Oh bugger…change channels…the soaps are starting..

Somethings happening in Eastenders…can’t miss that..

I go for a walk..

I sit at my favourite spot by the edge of the woods by my house..

I look to the skies..

Birds are busy..

Squirrels are out in force.

Dogs are barking somewhere in the distance..

I hear a bus somewhere…heading for town.

All normal..

While I have been sitting here embracing normality a nightmare crashes down on children’s heads in a far off place.

They won’t sit and watch the birds..

They won’t hear another bus rumble past..

No more dogs barking..

Their parents weep for their lost children..

I stand up to go..

The stars are coming out..

Some say the stars are all the children that go to heaven early..

I don’t know about that but there are a lot of new stars twinkling tonight.

I bow my head in shame…

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.