Whos War

Every time they incite me against you they tell me you are my enemy And every time they incite you against me they tell you am your enemy They themselves never have enemies Not that they are at peace with everybody But because there are no enemies at all Every time they declare war between us they tell me to fight for my constitutional rights And they tell you to fight for your patriotic rights But themselves never participate in the wars Not that they have no rights to fight for But because they use us to fight their wars They turn their differences to our war and make us fight for their power And when they get to the high echelons they never look back at us As we lay our slain, they celebrate their victory If the enmity is between me and you We shall declare our war And if the fight is for our rights We shall determine whether to fight We shall let their difference be their differences And their wars be their wars If somebody must fight, Let it be them not us.

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Joanna Davis

Date: 9/10/2023 5:12:00 PM

What a fantastic poem! No, more than a poem a declaration of peace.

Cyrus Theuri
Date: 9/10/2023 10:26:00 PM

Indeed Joanna, peace is paramount. Thanks for reading~Cyrus

Bill Baker

Date: 9/15/2022 4:20:00 PM

I hope a lot of "them" are hearing what you're saying. Peace my friend, Bill

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 9/8/2022 4:11:00 PM

Hey, listen to Joanna. Elizabeth

Joanna Davis

Date: 9/7/2022 10:05:00 PM

This poem is so profound, so true, so glaring in its clarity. If only all of us would wise up and realize that we are all one. No borders, no country, no clan. One nation, one people, one world, one love! Thank you for your wonderful poetry, beautiful words, and mindful insight.

Cyrus Theuri
Date: 9/8/2022 11:31:00 AM

Hi Joanna, thanks so much for this observations. It is indeed sad that people don`t realize how beautiful the world would be if only we would embrace peaceful co-existence.

John Davison

Date: 9/7/2022 6:06:00 PM

I like your collection of poems shared here and this one is very pertinent to current events in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In lines 1 and 3 I think you mean "incite" rather than "insight". In line 11 you could insert "they" after "But" to emphasise the guilt of the military commanders.

Cyrus Theuri
Date: 9/8/2022 11:37:00 AM

Hi John, thank you so much for reading and for the observations made. I indeed meant incite in lines 1 and 3. I am editing accordingly. Cheers!