without anchor all ships
sail and without passenger
no captain exists to guide
the dispossessed. Only remains
of Peaceful Assembly can
be glimpsed in the association
of favoritism. A favoritism
of familiarity deflecting contempt
by means of ineptitude.
The life of a fraud officer
For eight years
I worked as a fraud officer
Combating visa and passport fraud
Back when I worked
As a US diplomat.
In Mumbai
There was so much fraud
But we often had no choice
But to hold our noise
And issue visas.
In Spain not as much
But still quite a bit.
I learned the hard way
So many people
Are con men and women.
Lying, cheating
To get what they want.
One learned to not take it personally
Just part of the job
Working in a broken down visa system.
Where if the client has a good lawyer
And the paperwork looked legit
They would prevail.
And so the constant games
The lies and deceit continued
To this day.
I became so cynical
About people
But detecting fraud
Was like playing detective.
Once in a while
We were able to deny
A visa.
When the fraudulent activity
Was too blatant to ignore.
I have heard enough of your growl;
I am well aware of your prowl.
When you wear angry frown,
You appear like a clown.
Why waste time expecting my howl?!
The wild clouds
Are traveling
In the firmament.
The missiles and projectiles
Are bursting the profile
Of many innocent people.
The children
Are crying on the benches,
And their moms
Are suffering miserably.
Big and expensive guns
Are devouring mountains,
Valleys and cities.
Where is the love,
Amidst all these killings,
In full fury,
Where day
Becomes night?
In the whirlwind of miseries,
Absent are the roses,
Where nature is gloomy.
Man kills himself, why?
For nothing; for cow dung.
Humanity is wearing a cross
Which is very heavy. No more bread,
They shot the workers and the bakers.
We are all in the face of danger.
The wise clouds
Have seen the gruesome images;
Both countries are demolished
By ignorance and demagoguery.
Give a chance to diplomacy;
Give a blob of common sense to peace,
In order to nourish the giant tree of respect.
War will always be a senseless folly.
Copyright © November 2012, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved.
Hébert Logerie is the author of several poetry collections.
Why is it when my parliamentarian
speaks of 'the whole ball of wax'
He thinks he's so noble
for raising my tax
Stirring like a madman through slurred sand struggling in the dance of war
Love is like fallen leaves
Elevated
With eastern warmth
We hug in spring.
*
Often underrated,
Often understated,
Often underutilised.
Often misunderstood,
Often mishandled,
Often misinterpreted.
Yet diplomacy may be the only option,
To obtain a ceasefire.
Yet diplomacy may be the only option,
To obtain what you need to put out a fire.
Yet diplomacy may be the only option,
To obtain what you desire.
Yet diplomacy may be the only option,
To prevent the spread of all that is dire.
Threats of force seemed a sterling idea
Especially in light of Crimea
But you’re gonna get trolled
And the tanks gonna roll
When diplomacy comes from IKEA
Those who confuse Shubert with Mendelsohn,
Most likely can’t tell Mozart from Hayden.
They wander through the world without their culture on,
And cat-call Aphrodite while fishing for Poseidon.
Conspiracy theories have them nervous as ferrets.
Academic credentials are considered demerits.
They huddle in militias where their rumors bare fangs.
In a world where truth and justice are fighting for air,
A diploma’s only value is the wall on which it hangs.
The wave, a distant statement
“trust me, I come in peace”
The handshake, firm and strong
held just a bit too long
the hug, a gentle frisk
to minimize the risk
to those who must decide
to double down or let it ride
John G. Lawless
©11/14/2021
The peace talks require
great tact on the part of both
dynamic leaders.
I have to urge myself to rediscover diplomacy
Which has been unused on a long-forgotten shelf.
I am meeting a whole new staff of potential friends.
Who do not know me, so I am marching toward the closet
of things I have not had to use for a bit, hoping to find diplomacy
among the cobwebs of other things I have not had to use for ages.
Suffering of Yemen children
Raping pleasures in the Congo
Syrian war of super powers games
Iranian games with nukes
Megaphone diplomacy disparages diplomacy
Weakens links cultivated at great cost
Only to vanish in the twinkling of a fallacy
Spiced and iced for a tit for tat toast.
Megaphone diplomacy hobnobs with a misnomer
For nations blighted by the myopia
Cooped up in a fallacy grammar
Tinged with a dose of danger drama in Dystopia.
Megaphone diplomacy shunts aside tact
To overdramatize a scenario
That with tact violates no pact
Ascertaining partners to a dispute toast in Rio.
Megaphone diplomacy plays to the gallery
Ensconced in short-termism
To gain a political mileage salary
At the expense of more fruitful long-termism.
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