Wednesday !!! and poem 12 of the 30 poems in 30 days challenge.

Today's poet is the Awesome Anne Rhodes....
Her poem is very timely considering the current climate.

SYRIA’S BOMBS Anne Rhodes © April 2017

Treat others as you want to be treated
The essence taught in the law, the prophets.
Why in war are the innocent hurt so?
Does man no longer care about man?

Sometimes our hearts are rung with pain, despair,
heartache at the deaths of little children.
The sins of others are our sins also
For we talk, but talk won’t rescue them all.

Man fights man to gain control or power.
But how many not involved in fighting,
Suffer for the greed and sins of others?
Death comes to them completely uninvited.

A bullet or a bomb can both be swift
But too often they die slowly, suffering.
The pain, the fear, the fact that they are trapped
Under broken walls, hearing others screams.

To flee they face a journey out to sea
In flimsy raft or overfilled pontoon.
It’s bad enough that they could drown out there
To wash upon the shore for all to see.

But to remain in what is their homeland
Risks nerve gas sent to catch them unawares.
 To die because with pupils at pin point,
They froth, convulse, their lungs no longer work.

To bomb, ostensibly to kill rebels
hidden within buildings, is bad enough -
but to aim at civilians purposely,
using deathly gas, is a huge war crime.

Those responsible should pay the price
And suffer for their sins before their God.
Somehow God must make these people see
That talking is far better than to fight.

Facts about Syria

Syria’s capital, Damascus, has claims to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the world. 

The name of Damascus was first recorded by the ancient Egyptians in the 15th century BC. 

In the Middle Ages, Damascus was a major point on the silk road from Asia and gave the name to the woven fibres known as damask. 

Syria was put under emergency law in 1963. It was lifted in 2011 when civil war broke out. 

The King James Bible refers to Damascus 45 times in the Old Testament and 15 in the New.

Syria has won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the history of the Olympics. 

The “Shouting Valley” is a place where Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel meet. Its name came from the habit of people shouting at their relatives through megaphones across the valley. 

Archaeological evidence shows that Syrians have been drinking beer since at least 2500BC. 

The two most popular local beers are Al-Shark and Barada, both Government-owned.

About 11 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes by the current crisis. Five million have fled to neighbouring countries.

Poetry Challenge

NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.

This blog is linked to the site and is quoted on it, therefore any work submitted here will receive a much larger audience !!

So go on.....have a go !!.

Submit via the contact button or email me at :-

neville.raper@gmail.com

Remember, Like, Share, Subscribe !