________________
Wars and conflicts are raging all around the world. We all talk about loss of commerce and trade, of shortages and inflation, and occasionally loss of human life. But who talks of the sufferings of innocent animals clubbed under collateral damage?
_________________________
Pray tell me where hast my home gone,
Asks a kitten left all alone
In a subdued terrified moan.
Syria to sequestered Sudan,
From Ukraine to war-torn Iran,
Animals endure wars inhumane.
Men’s weapons of war smothered have
Their habitats, lives gone to grave,
Innocent creatures to deprave--
All whilst we discuss price of oil
And from human-life loss recoil,
Few think of these beasts so loyal.
Violence’ far from deemed banal
Whilst joy of profit’s gone carnal
And lifestyle all around venal.
The greatness of a nation, said
Gandhi, depends heart over head
On how animals are treated.
Poor pets were killed in World War Two
Lots of beasts in World War One too,
In current wars? We’ve not a clue.
____________________________
Happenings | 03.04.2026 | humans, animals, violence, war, Tercet
Since you have been gone
A lot of water has passed under the bridge
A mixed bag of events have occurred
Leaving behind earth-shaking calamities
Difficult to quantify
As confusion like whirlwind
Keeps spreading and threatening
The very fabric of National Cohesion
Nobody knows what to believe anymore
As looters of our commonwealth
Keep spewing unbelievable theories
From two sides of their mouths
Shamelessly going back To their vomit of years gone by
To satisfy the cravings of their current masters
While citizens continue to wallow in abject poverty
Confused and traumatized
Where their next meals will come from
As their purchasing power has been eroded
By the demise of the national currency
Clubbed to death by inflation
And market forces
Never experienced in our chequered history
The time ticks by
As I stare at the clock
Knowing my near future.
Just sitting
Waiting.
No news, no change.
Storms rage,
Confusion, resignation, consternation .
The time seems slower somehow.
Like the whole world still turns but us.
Decisions. Coffee? No coffee?
Who can predict?
People bustle, not knowing, dazed.
Children scream with over tired,
Hot sticky evening air.
All becomes predictable,
We all make a new temporary home here.
As if we are refugees
Clubbed together in our island
Our land of no name
No country.
All set adrift.
Time still ticks by,
Ever slower.
Stretching each second
Elongating the interstitial pauses.
We can do no more.
We eat, drink, shop.
Nothing in those world
Is like an airport delay
Catfish are floundering
in too shallow a creek -
long summer, little rain.
Doug attaches a drag net to the back of his truck
hauls in three or four fish in one sweep.
Wide gaping rubbery mouths'
sucking desperately at the spray
death throes in the wriggling water.
The fish are damaged, clubbed
by the stony riverbed.
Go fill a big blue plastic barrel with tap water
dump them in.
Not sure what to do.
It seems like the catfish are now drowning
some are belly-up but still twitching.
We may have to stand here
under the hot midday sun
and just watch.
Take a plastic knife
lay down and put it over
the place where your heart is hiding.
Close your eyes; if behind each eyelid
you see a baby seal being clubbed to death
then that's a sure signal
you always meant well, but the seal still died.
On the other hand,
if you see an injured songbird
fluttering weakly in your closing fist
then that's a sign you
have forgotten where you left your heart.
Move the plastic knife around your chest
until you hear the bleating of lost lambs.
Give thanks for being soft and
pliable still,
and not hard enough to break
the point off a plastic kitchen knife.
Respect is the essence which never fades
Respect is what one needs during the journey
Be respectful of others,
use your conscience, treat them with dignity.
Not everyone has had it easy in life
and from my experience
those who have suffered the most have the most
amazing beautiful fractal heart;
No everyone has it handed to them on a silver plate
some have had to contend with abuse and hate
be gentle when sharing your views with others
yours might have come easy, but theirs were hard earned
Bend the reed but don't break it,
rigidity is for mules not humans ;
Let them feel free to express their beliefs
without being clubbed over the head !
Its easy to have faith when everything is going well
its easy to give up, when everything is not
Be kind to those who wear scars on their sleeve
be good to all, harm none, and most of all
Respect where they are, when it came to survival, they had the gall.
You’ll find yourself on the other side of the blade
You’ll find yourself on the other side of the blade
You’ll find that trouble will come to you, ready-made
Today you’re the hero, tomorrow you’ll be the foe
Today you’re the hero, tomorrow you’ll be the foe
It’s the same thing as in ancient tales long ago
There ain’t no running or hiding in this wilderness
Ain’t no running or hiding in this wilderness
I think you’ll find nature impossible to resist
God has answers that you may not hear
The Good Lord has answers for you that you may not hear
Listen up child, lest all the good world disappear
Some people are blind to the tyrant that dwells within
Some folks are sure of the rules in a game they must win
Not knowing where to aim is the mark of sin
The demon of vice will not be easily tamed
He’ll threaten you with aggression for which you’ll be blamed
Til all that’s left of your legacy is a stain
The Major Judges are lining up above
The trumpets are sounding, the seals have been torn and clubbed
And the very last angel will sound the chaos of love
Yes the Final Angel will sound the chaos of love.
A K-8 school, J.S. Waters, was roundly chastised today
Its students held a 'mock' slave auction
This happened in March, in North Carolina, in the year 2022
White students sold black students as slaves, and used the n-word too
One boy went for $350, later he was clubbed with a baseball bat
So, if you roll your eyes over 'Racism?' --in the USA?
~ You ought to think long and hard about that
Fire the principal, the teachers involved, expel the white participants too
Throw the book at the adults, and at those white kids too
Make an example of these horrid beasts, so this NEVER happens again...
We dare not wonder why Civil War wounds have yet to mend
there was a kaleidoscopic key
nocturnal nature smothered spree
moaning metal glazed with scarred incisors
dripping dark dangles, felon fright's fervor
meagre mystery bewitched it:
callous connections drooled, fostered fills
hoisted head, punctured padlock was
tampered tuning heaves nosy gnaw
a book is birthed by a turn
leering la-de-da lodge, lusty lurch
another turn trashed book, pages wept:
crushed confetti, cremating clubbed crest
kleptomaniac key brings the book
rips pulpy pages, plays the crook.
'20:05:22:18:16
Note: of kleptomaniac key.
gaunt green gnawed
gullible groove gored
gutsy grills gulped
glitched gems gulled
graced gifts globbed
gripping glows' gourd
callous clouds cussed
cremating clips cupped
crumbling cruise clubbed
nosy nature nimble
nudging nectar's nipple
nasty nerd nestled
wanky wind wields
rhythm rustling riffs
'20:04:13:16:38
Note: Of gaunt green. Inspired by a picture of nature I took earlier today.
~~~~T H E W I T C H ' S H E A D N E B U L A E~~~~~
The Canadien Seal Hunt by The Humane Society
Warmingly, a seal
pup, heedlessly, greets strangers
who clubbed it to death.
Date: 08/30/2019
howmanysyllables
575
***Entitled suggested background music for reading
Some words in English can't be mistaken
Like “SNUBBED”, a silly word that leaves people shaken
If you've been “SNUBBED”
Or if you've been clubbed
With a tree stump or bitten by a croc on vacation... ?
Teens should be helped but clubbed if needed
Latter's so important to be sure you've succeeded
Sounds extreme I know
Quite effective though
But be sure the neighbors don't hear the outrageous screaming
Fact and fiction, abundance and paucity
Vie for space in a world driven insane
Conflating rural life and life in the city
Where dealing, hustling and stealing grow inane
In minds and lives
Caught up in a conundrum
Stabbed and clubbed by knives
To the beat and feet of the drum
Heard in the middle of a night
So dark a stark sentiment
Flies in dyes chosen by the knight
Riding a high horse to the detriment
Of society whose propriety
Draws doubt when ludicrous lips twist and tout
The truth, the naked truth in a variety
Sometimes so convoluted and distorted doubt
Arises at sunup
In the morning when snoring
Faces shake cobwebs to drink from a cup
Teeming with tears at the sound of mourning
Wailing without a sound
Sighing without weeping
Kneeling on surfaces out of bound
As spies make a statement so sweeping
Truth cries
Facts flee from the face of the Earth
As an invisible hand pries
Open a can of worm bereft of any worth.
Teens should be helped and clubbed if needed
Latter's important to be sure you've succeeded
Sounds extreme I know
Quite effective though
But be sure the neighbors don't hear the screaming
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