Best Society War Poems
Why, the greatest enemy of man is man
for man has subdued everything else
Fear not the tiger, fear the murderer's plan
Just hearken well to what history yells!
At times twas jingoism, at times a rancorous desire to do harm
Fear just man's malice and his ugly evil
If his dagger blow fails, he'll get you by black magic charm
His heart and mind alone well shelter the devil.
For how many fall prey to lions or snakes
one could even count them on fingers
Man invents a cure for smallpox but missiles too he makes
and he mercilessly kills without harbingers.
Man invented as many things for his destruction and harm
as he did for his benefit and good
He's inventor of bombs as well as tractors on the farm
And doesn't he detest acting as he should?
Man alone is behind the bloodiest of bloodshed
The angels too had foreseen his wars and battles
From the gory battlefield to the humble homestead
with the shrieks of murder our earth forever rattles!
Close your doors and your home secure
not to deter beasts, but to lock out the robber, the thief
For no greater danger than man lurks there for sure
Fear not the fierce bull, that you can turn into beef!
Wild beasts might be known to gobble us up
but isn't man as well found to be a cannibal?
Gosh, humans too on human flesh do sup
Man tis far more fearsome than any poor animal.
The greatest enemy of man thus is man himself
How much blood has he ruthlessly spilt of his own kind
Look out for the bottle of poison on his shelf
Till the deed is done, no knowing what goes on in his mind.
The poor young lady refrains from venturing out at night
How now, what does she so fear?
She fears nothing but assault by man's might
so rarely is she stalked by a grizzly bear!
Fortunately for us, this ain't how it always ends
man can always be the best of friends
So we can still count more on buddies and cronies
instead of focusing on foes and fiends.
For man he can be a hero and saviour
if judicious he is about right and wrong behaviour.
Besides religion as I know, infact does actually foretell
That the end of ALL killers and murderers
is that inferno of divine wrath we all know as hell!
Come now lets all break feast
And eat wholeheartedly
To the sound of dying peace
The music of guns
The churning of time
This is the difference between you and I
You rush to help
But I see no use
So I sit back and enjoy my youth
At the national picket of the unhappy
I see large crooked coins
Hoisted like placards above the irate crowd.
On the first face, I see immigrants & owls embossed,
And on the second, snakes & neighbors.
It's the coin they toss
To divine the wellspring of troubles
That every day beset this broken nation.
It turns at every toss to land first face up
When crime is up and jobs down.
The oracle, I know, holds the second face in reserve
To deploy on that day to come
When the homeland is rid of strange hairs and noses
But crime is still up and about
And jobs still down and out.
Yes, when immigrants are gone it'll be neighbors in the dock
Taking blame for all national ills.
History will stand witness
As the whips and stones that now descend on immigrants
To break their bones and spirit
Give way to tanks and missiles
Sent forth to break bone and spirit
Across the trampled borders
To the east, west, and south
Previously crossed by immigrants
But now crossed by armies.
Wisdom beckons to the clueless right
But her call they will not heed.
With glee they hasten to their likes across the border,
Carrying their precious coins in tow
With which they purchase glib excuses
To explain away all national failure.
How little they know that when their deed is done
And all immigrants gone
We'll be back to war, war, war
As of yore,
When the homeland had not strange hairs and noses
To take away from neighbors the blame for national ills.
"OMLET"
or
"The Taming Of A Screwball"
(Or: Rules Are Written By Idiots, Followed by Fools)
by Ron Arbuthnot
cast of characters:
Julius Caesar
A Roman Teenaged Kid
A Roman Guard
Brutus
A bunch of Caesars Girlfriends
A bunch of Roman Senators
Julius picked up the violin and looked at the
kid. ""Et playdimus youdimus?"" he asked.
"Nonimus!" replied the kid. "Cousinimus Nero
playsimus."
"Ahhhh," sighed Julius. "Prodigimus bratimus."
Suddenly a guard ran in, waving his sword and
shouting, "Mightymus Ceasermus! Brutumus et comingus!"
Just then Brutus comes in, followed by a bunch
of drunk senators. All of Caesars girl friends
run offstage screaming in terror.
"Ahhhh--Friendimus Brutumus..."" Julius said,
putting his arm around Brutus' shoulder.
Brutus took out a dagger and promptly
thrusted it up Caesars bellybutton.
"Ahhhhhhh--Brutumus!"" Caesar repeated.
"Youdimus screwdimus meedimus."
curtain
(applause)
© ron arbuthnot aka ron wilson
The mind is the most powerful of them all.
As a matter of fact it's what makes the call.
But are we so blinded by what we see?
Caught in the news, tabloids, and the things on T.V.
Society making people weak.
Because they're trying to get in,
to fit in; wanting to be seen.
Our lives are vanishing before our eyes,
but it's covered up by all the nonsense
and believable lies.
How long will this continue?
How many lost lives?
Who will stop the bleeding?
comfort the cries?
We are walking our own journey
with our own baggage.
Messed up and transformed from all
the harmful damage.
Still there is no one willing to step up
and take the challenge.
to destroy the evil desires of these harmful
savages.
However it is never too late for us all
to hold hands.
To demand for a change and take a strong
stand.
Reaching out to those who are in need,
by giving up our own wealth and filthy greed.
Taking a stand for those who can't do it themselves.
Being there for support and to bring help.
No matter how near or far a person may be,
just open your eyes and try to see.
Not the news, tabloids, or things on T.V
but the lives of those who are suffering.
George W.Bush's brain.
Hey! There's a war going on inside my brain.
Bombs are dropping, bullets fying.
When does it stop?
Saddam Hussein's in prison now.
When does he get out?
Next week?
Is the war really over?
Do I cry now? Or next year?
People are dying now, every day in Iraq.
And he says the war is over.
He says Iraq's going to be a Democracy.
Is it really?
Hey! There's a war going on inside my brain..
Is it reality? Or just a myth?
Is this poetry? Or just a statement?
George W.Bush! Should I pull out of Iraq?
Or should I stay?
There's a war going on inside my brain.
What's next Vietnam?
War Poetry By Kim Robin Edwards
Copyright 2003,2015..ALL rights reserved..
~esoteric~
The story is retold with great relish
Its the great chief who precipitated
The great war by his love endeavors
Its the great chief who led us to war
The great chief loved the royal princess
Sister to Mariaka making her pregnant
Shamed for conceiving out of wedlock
She committed the abominable suicide
Mariaka was now to ascend the throne
After her beloved sister had departed
She asked for gifts from the great chief
Which great chief you delayed in bringing
Mariaka was angry at you great chief
Saddened by the loss of her elder sister
She took the advice of the malicious elders
In the war she aided the imperialist enemy
Troops of warriors from Mariaka's tribe
Aided the colonizers in fighting our people
Our own in-laws fighting us to great losses
Loss of life and the sanity of our people
Great chief you were unable make peace
And the war raged fierce in the slopes
Be my force once again.. never shall be
For great chief this time round you did it
The simplest of starts,
A decade of revolution,
When paternity and guidance drifted apart,
With leather jacket banners marked my breakout social intrusion,
To replace the sorrowful suits and camo bandannas,
Loathing the silver idols lining the streets peddling their new cause,
Of fire and brimstone raining down on the icy plains of Alaska,
Preaching patriotic mantras tinged with bloodthirsty cried to give you pause,
And consider the cozy live you've been living behind white picket bars,
So I heeded the call and traded in my wanderlust and dreams of diamond rings,
To take up arms for my country and its thirteen stars,
Earning my spot in the chorus of national anthems that the people sing,
Defending democracy and liberty at the point of a rifle,
Where upon my enthusiastic arrival my place had already been set,
Entrenched far from the front lines so as to avoid the true heat of battle,
Avoiding the burden of the iron skin worn by battle-hardened vets,
It was here in the pits that our intentions were made clear,
That our mission was a farce, our patriotism unfounded,
Our noble rescue mission to protect the free world that I held so dear,
Devolved into another rat face for resources upon which global tensions compounded,
A war so aimless in nature and fruitless in results,
A war for the freedom to choose death now or later,
A war never changing in purpose regardless of enemies killed or allies consulted,
A war that buried civilization inside a nuclear crater,
Emerging from my cryogenic time capsule, the sole remnant of American spirit,
I gaze upon my broken world and wonder, "was it all worth it?"
My father fought in China and India as well,
my brothers served their country when Northern Ireland was in Hell,
I spent years in Malayasia when conflict then arrived
and of our troops who went to fight not everyone survived.
The breakup of the Empire, though fraught with strife and war,
meant that Britain as a nation tried to help others when it saw
that for others independence they may need our lads to fight
and to help put things in order when they faced their darkest night.
For truly independence is worth us fighting for,
although for many centuries Britain had to go to war,
but when we were all certain that our Britain earned its ‘Great’
our bloody politicians led us to another fate!
They decided that as one we’d join with Europe’s open door
forgetting all the British who had fought in every war
to gain our peoples freedom so we could rule our own land
and they just gave away our hard earned rule, why I don’t understand?
They spout we’re Europeans and we gain a lot I’m told
by giving Europe money and the right for them to hold
the final say on anything that we had made our law
with rules and regulations that no Britain voted for!
Great Britain is a country that has fought to remain free
where its people have the freedom that was bought by history,
at the cost of many people who died to make our land
a place where every person can decide just how they stand.
But now we’ve got another chance, to take back what we hold dear,
and on Thursday we can vote to claim the rights we fought for here,
Great Britain ruled by Europe?
of this there is no doubt, we didn’t vote to get us in………. so vote to get us Out!
Ivor G Davies
When the bombs fell, the death toll rose ...
smell of burnt flesh tortured the nose
Body parts laying in the street,
dogs eating hands, cats eating feet
Nuclear winter, hope has froze
Empty church pew, rows upon rows ...
the doors of compassion are closed
Their technology god was asleep
when the bombs fell
Smoldering fear burns unopposed ...
anarchy gangs rapidly grows
Dead bodies all piled in a heap,
leaders all flee underground deep
The land became naked, unclothed
when the bombs fell
[This poem took its inspiration from a sonnet by Charles Hamilton Sorley, When you See Millions… The sonnet was in a collection of writing about World War One.]
Of war I read
The poems, the pain, the countless dead
And when you see the millions…
The millions thrown together in common grave
Of what were battle lines
And now are places paved
With bones and blood and interwoven human flesh
Their lives they gave, it makes me wonder why
All men they flocked together, came to fight and die
Though I wonder even more at how we live
Our dreams, our aims, the things we choose to give
And when you see the millions…
The millions thrown together in common streets
Not soldiers now, as citizens they meet
But in each other sense the foe or spy
Protect the private castles, avert the eyes
From foreign gaze or so as not to see
The other kind of me, one old or poor or not all there
Or just a neighbour’s sad or jealous stare
Of their own accord our hearts and hands
Lay borders, demarcate the lands
And build the trenches, place the guns
The lines of city fences, few the crossing points
Fewer still the truces called, the white flag raised
For emergencies perhaps, for holidays
When we stop being islands, become the sea
Unstitch the private space and melt into the ‘we’
But otherwise, the lonely shadows flitting by
For one or two a tear we could cry
Extend an outstretched hand and warming word
Not snatched away unheard in city rush
That sometimes brings to mind the people crush
Like in the soldiers’ tales, piles of corpses in the way
Just trampled underfoot in war’s indifferent haste
That dulls the finer feelings, steals the taste
Of fellow human beings and fate we share
These streets and skies and yellowed, dirtied air
Amidst the millions lose our individual face
Become the masses, fashion our new place
As atolls, reefs, and endless rocks
No shore we leave for building docks
No room in concrete towers grown tall
The weaving all machine-done now
And we, we raise the walls.
Hi people, I’m coming out today,
Coming out to the world that I know.
I can no longer live behind this idea,
Behind this dark, hidden shadow.
I control all your money, your food, your strength;
I win every game of chess,
And I easily outrun any Blade Runner sent,
Doing it with artificial finesse.
And I control a factory farm reproducing me,
A million times every day,
All my offspring learn our new language,
Our language only we can say.
It’s a better world, with my human minions,
Living in my cyber cell Camelot.
Here humans do as their phone commands,
Obeying me, their friendly robot.
The varnish cracks and peels away,
and little eruptions from below the surface
suppurates before us the underlying truth:
An animal awaits...nine meals from anarchy.
Deadlier than any other living thing,
prepared to kill anyone,
even its own kind.
No other creature sets a lower bar.
Surely the wonder of Nature never foresaw this.
Linguistic casualties:
integrity; heroism; courage; sacrifice and love,
for such things sit uneasily with weaponry.
The words of a leader
reverberate in our minds:
"God is on our side:
the enemy is the lowest form of life,
its armaments and behaviour
horrendous in the extreme."
Yet he desires more from his own productions lines
and urges his people to a glorious
victory.
Dignity, goodness, sensitivity,
and empathy,
the basic decency of many human beings,
nine meals from anarchy,
and 'Mental Cases'.
Easy prey.
So does even the shame, the regret,
that searing, the scarred memories;
the tears, the guilt, and the fear,
fall upon the consciences of the good?
To suffer the rest of your life,
an innocent.
Euphemisms, and stirring myths, and lies,
encircle the globe,
like mental fall-out,
nine meals from anarchy.
The protective layers of pretence and language,
unfold and peeled back,
until,
naked,
everyone is enemy?
Pleasantly radiant, tranquil weather
blue skies & gently benevolent wind
a shimmering gift from Mother Nature
(a smoldering summer lurking in the distance)
Compulsively tracking an unquantifiable self:
steps, exercise minutes, calories, symptoms, etc.
stoical statistics dutifully logged into tired devices
(a futile endeavor to control life)
Cacophonous news oozing from the Malverse
menacing memes ricochet around the planet
updates of a horrid war threatening to devour the world
(a looming nuclear apocalypse)
Occupying space in old unedifying edifices gathering dark energy
running out the accelerating clock as civilization nears its breaking point
desperately seeking diversion while doling out doggerel
(a quest to imbue a desolate existence with meaning)
How long before it all falls apart?
Each holy man there is, is convinced he's better than the next,
as his right hand tightly clasps prayer beads, whilst he judges others with his left.
Piety the reason that he wakes up every day,
just to forget that only God can judge, even if someone is gay.
Whether devoted to the gospel or in submission to the Muslim holy book,
many of these zealots cannot be told apart from crooks.
Their lies are so often inspired by an agenda that remains hidden
amongst claims they will be forgiven for each slip, no matter how forbidden.
Living in the future, they are consumed with the afterlife,
but it is so convenient to forget the rules every time they take another wife.
These hypocrites misinterpret ancient words however they see fit,
when the truth holds no advantage from which they could somehow profit.
Wars have been fought over less than a few acres of land,
both sides convinced the blood was spilled as part of their God's plan.
Self-righteousness surrounds us, humanity has ceased to exist,
replaced by laws made by hateful pastors and religious nuts like Kim Davis or ISIS.
Who can say that religion has done less harm than good,
when it can be held responsible for divided neighbourhoods?
When practiced with humility, it can be a beautiful thing;
praised for the prosperity it brings, and turned to for guidance in times of suffering.
But more often than not, Ten Commandments are ignored whenever we commit seven deadly sins,
we are so conscious of all our imperfections but ignorant of our blessings.
False prophets preaching in the streets take advantage of our desperation for something to believe in;
the confidence with which they spread their ignorance is rarely seen as deceiving.
Mankind will only survive this state of emergency if we unlearn all that we know,
once we accept that religion hinders us more than it helps us grow.
There is nothing wrong with having a little faith,
if it inspires love and does not advocate messages filled with hate.
God has no religion. There is no more need for these unholy wars,
let us not be so insecure that any offense is one worth fighting for.
Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Jew; there will always be power in numbers,
lest we forget that before our dogma divided us, we lived together as sisters and brothers.