Terry Ireland Poet Rhyme

Debits and Credits

One year ago Dictator Putin’s
Massed military might 
Invaded the Ukraine
Not really expecting any fight.
One year later, with increasing 
Frustration and despair,
Putin’s battered conscript army 
Is still trapped and fighting there.
Like all modern military bullies
They failed to understand
The power of the patriot when
Asked to defend his land.

So many recent example 
Of the futility of wars 
When Military ambitions face
A defender with a cause.
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, 
All refused to accept defeat 
Although battered and torn 
Each forced invader to retreat.
With arrogance and ignorance
They don’t learn or even care
Of the proverb telling of the power 
Of sword turning into ploughshare.

In the end it’s down to statistics
The invader finally accepts he’s lost
When faced with the ever mounting
Life, material, and economic cost. 
They leave behind chaos while, 
Like hungry vultures  they hover,
Waiting for the ready profits there
As they offer assistance to recover.
The purveyor of munitions
Not really taking any side,
Quietly counts his profits from
The sales he’s made worldwide.

And gleefully rubs his hands
Waiting for the rise in sales
That aftermath of a conflict
Inevitably entails.
The bully has to replace arms 
He’s used on the battleground
And so the oil of commerce
Makes the World go round.
For the whole World knows
There’s no way to compete
With satisfaction gained 
From a healthy profit sheet.

Putin still sits in Moscow
So immaculately dressed
Repressing a country that’s 
Been constantly repressed.
POTUS sits in Washington 
Land supposedly of the free
Where anyone can starve 
In the name of democracy.
Two different systems and 
Two very different voices.
You just pays your money and
You just makes your choices.

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Aysha Nuwas February 21, 2023 at 10:41 PM I have lived under regimes, no system is perfect but where I am now, I can type my poems, where I was before I could not. Enjoyed this the poem, thought provoking. Terry Ireland February 22, 2023 at 12:39 AM Thanks Aysha - when Putin is, as I hope, thoroughly defeated, we should hopefully remember that no country or regime is historically innocent. We have al had our Ukraines in the past.