We share a sun
from ten thousand miles apart,
me enjoying a beautiful day,
you huddling in a shelter
out of harms way.
We share a moon
from ten thousand miles apart,
me relaxing around a bonfire with friends,
you taking advantage of the darkness
to gather food and supplies.
We share a day
from ten thousand miles apart,
me traveling as I want,
you caught in the crossfire
of another senseless war.
We share our lives
from ten thousand miles apart,
me praying for your safety,
you hoping to be out of
the hell you are in.
Another moment of silence.
Another flag at half-mast
Another coffin dressed in colors.
Life's becoming quite a drag.
Community garden filling with tomatoes and needles.
Tiptoe like a sunflower, keep an eye wide open.
A black-smoke man was selling paper roses.
Monday morning, there's an empty desk at school.
Wrong place at the wrong time, they always chime.
Another Crayola crayon angel has died before their time.
Caught in the crossfire between the reds and blues.
Grief counselor soothes, but things will never be cool again.
A child's watching cartoons- a sudden news flash.
A firebug picked the perfect home; an entire family's dead.
The only thing you can do is turn the channel fast.
Sunflowers and ceasefires are God-sent but never seem to last.
Another moment of silence. Another flag half-mast.
Another coffin sprayed with tears and taps.
Life's becoming quite a drag.
If intent and actions
are cause and effect
and influence the future
what you give is what you get
and yet
what about children
caught in the crossfire
when very young
murdered in man's mire
they have not yet begun
to live
and love is all they have to give
so much for karma
symbolised by the lotus flower
but whereabouts is it
in their most needed hour
forsaken by fortune
they answered fate's call
tho' no reason not to do good
our own sad destiny awaits us all
I've been here before
Caught in the crossfire of change
Scattered peices of a past long forgotten
I travel on with hope in my reach
Each day I grow a little stronger
I stand a little taller
I become the rock for a broken family
I stay the course the destination of self happiness
I take on the challenges I stare them down
I am here for a common goal
A simple notation in the novel of my life
I embrace forgiviness I take comfort in failures
I climb these self created mountains
I am the staple in.my own existence
I discover each day what a gift it is to wake every morning
I look forward to the laughter the smiles of a stress filled day
I am the champion for my sanity
When you've been where I have been
You are tired of crying tired of destroying foundations laid
Only to rebuild them from the ground up again
I refuse to stay down refuse to fall victim again to my own thoughts
I am here today tomorrow and as long as I can be for all those loves around me.
These waves crash hard into me like I am a greater force to conquer than the very shore it swore to forever be enemies with
The storm rolls in, a cavalry of raindrops assault my skin, and I just sit there and take it
What power do I know?
Your current pulled me in and it was your charm that held me under
Maybe drowning would finally bring this battle to an end, the white flag did nothing for me anyhow
But what mercy does nature know?
Living must inevitably meet dying
The ocean rises to any occasion it gets to swallow prey whole
I was caught in the crossfire of a battle centuries older than myself
I was a sacrifice for someone else's temporary greater good
I only realized it too late
I am no Odysseus, I lie with the bones of the giants who overtook me
I stare into the evil eye of the storm with no such luxury as a sword to fight against what is to come
Courage is unkind, but it is my sharpest of knives
And with it the wild tides finally retreat
In the twelth hour
We're pursuing generational wealth
From a generation who stole
Everything from us
The clock ticks closer to doom
But we're no closer to finding our own reality
When dreams are nightmares
Fueled by foreign wars
I thought it was all wack
But I held everything back
Taking the back seat
To let others drive the car
And as we fly off the bridge
I have to ask myself how I even got here
Because my hope is drowning
In a dead sea of blood and oil
I'm tired of sitting and crying
Listening to cowards who aren't fighting
But put our soldiers on the streets
As they parade their new yachts
You sold your children's future
For foreign investment that didn't manifest
And as infrastructure begins to break down
See the reality of a dying empire
This land was not made for you and me
And the melting pot is beginning to boil over
But sadly we're caught in the crossfire
Of a media fueled race war
Because to divide is to conquer
And maybe I'm a victim of the game
When I point fingers and attribute blame
Because I'm clearly guilty too
The love of God is a priceless blessing
An affection mightier than fire
Empty grave; the saints, forever singing
To die for me was his greatest desire
Shall I liken Christ to any desire?
The nails and stone couldn't retain my Lord
For my sake, He was caught in the crossfire
To the very end, he upheld His word
Heavy task, His love was the binding chord
Fragile, fragile death, thy sting is over
Torn veil, slashed by the double-edged sword
Hell is vanquished, His throne is forever
Like a seedling, He sprung up from the grave
O Captain of my life; potent, and brave
With Habakkuk Kargbo (Rabbi)
©?Poem Makers SL (31/03/24)
In a land torn by evils cruel hands
where innocence once thrived in golden sand
echoes now haunt barren torched lands
of children lost, tears fall in graves of pain
Fourteen thousand souls, too young to know
caught in the crossfire, victims oppressed
their laughter silenced as dreams cut short
in a horror of genocide where all limbs bleed
Babies cradled in arms, so tender and small
now lie cold and lifeless, victims silent in white shawls
their tiny hearts, once filled with hope's embrace
now silenced forever in a merciless disgrace
The army's march such ruthless crimes
leaving devastation in its tide
families torn apart by Israels cruel wand
as they mourn the loss of those they held fond
Oh, may their memory be a solemn vow
strive for peace and harmony, lets end sorrow forever now
for in the wake of such unfathomable hate
lies a plea for humanity to erase this state
On the jagged edge of conflict
The sharp blade of hate begins to show
This hate boils over into war
and blood begins to flow
Fiery flashes of bomb blasts
Light up the violent night
Innocent civilians caught in the crossfire
There are no solutions in sight
Salad City
By Francis Powell
Nobody can breath in Salad City
There’s snakes in the sea, in salad city
They are just living out a dream in Salad City
Or just throwing their lives away
I went there when I was twenty one
Just wanted to live a bit, and have some fun
I was caught in the crossfire of a city at war
There was harmony and hell in the midst of it all
You can’t sail in the breeze in Salad city
There are toxic trees in salad city
The children are searching for fields to play
and the mayor is attached to the end of a chain
There are people sitting on cactus pins,
trying to atone for their faults and sins
All the shop keepers love to scowl and frown
And the taxi drivers, drive with their eyes to the ground
I was not mad at you
I was just frustrated by life
I did not man for you
To get caught in the crossfire
I did not want you to feel invisible
But I got absorbed in the struggle
The struggle of my life
And did not see your life enough
I did not want you to feel neglected
I just got lost in the distractions
Forgot my priorities and what’s really important
If you give me the chance
If you decide on forgiveness
I will give you reason to believe in me again.
Woe betide he!
Condemned from the very beginning to ultimate destruction
Preoccupied with recruiting souls with reckless abandon
With a mandate to wreck havoc on mankind before his time is done
The hour of reckoning for the mastermind of all evil at Armageddon shall come
For in hell eternally shall he burn
Woe unto thee!
Agents of the prince of darkness
Shedding innocent blood and leaving in its wake the fatherless and motherless
Destroying destinies of countless
Alas! Judgment shall come in its uprightness
For the verdict shall be an everlasting sentence to the abyss of hopelessness
Woe is me!
From a state of nothingness, born into an awareness of mankind’s fall
Caught in the crossfire between two warring factions, of which there’s no sitting on the wall
To the light I must navigate, there’s no other favourable call
Lest the darkness subsume me and I be a fireball
Time will tell how my life’s mission will progress or stall
For after death, I shall awake to eternally know it all
The sharp horn of the rhino cannot protect his kingdom
The ivory cache of the elephant cannot buy his freedom
Hide the bullets from the machine gun
He aims at his children and fellowman
The sharp thorn of the boma cannot protect his village
From the suicide bomber who seeks only to pillage
His pride 'The King of the Jungle' is shot
Hunted and endangered by the men for sport
Shave his beard to give him a new expression
Take off his old veil to shed his radicalization
African minds aspire for a new economic empire
Aiming for the west, Africa is caught in the crossfire
crossfire
©Rajat Kanti Chakrabarty
10/31/2014
Caught in the crossfire
He bought a Greek lyre ( we must admire)
He harped on and on–a liar
Sometimes i just wanna cry
As i look up to the sky and ask god why
22 years and still can't figure it out
All the pain and suffering
With an endless reign of doubt
Decisions decisions when all made to bad
Disappointment was to make so many
mad
I try and i try
But with no luck there is no hope
Stuck in this life
Figuring how to cope
Theses things i have made a mess
The power of feeling less
Deep depression left to wonder
What is happened to my mind
Twisted games not all to kind
In the end left searching
Myself to find
Will i change just in the nick of time
Or will another mark be added to my
lifeline
Yet hearing the whispers
Of so many who want to judge
To prove wrong
Not for you but for me
Will the judgements finally cease
Caught in the crossfire of two lives gone
wrong
Blowing up like a bomb
But no i must stay strong
Its within these moments
When the struggle is great
Is when destiny shows itself
And i find my true faith
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