War & Ukraine by Chris Lloyd

War

A skein of geese flies silently, majestically

in the red glow of evening, their v shape

in unison, like a squadron of war planes

performing at an air show …

Below, the smouldering of jagged buildings

fills the air with acrid smells of twisted

metal, burning people, long dead,

 gaping mouths, sightless eyes.

Dogs hungrily investigate, choose from a menu.

Harsh wind skitters newspapers across the square,

give some semblance of privacy

to bodies as they are unknowingly covered.

A defeated, bedraggled soldier walks past unseeing

lost in his own thoughts, gripping a photograph,

town raped, razed to the ground

plundered, murdered left to rot.

The red sky in this particular frame is not made by

mother nature for it will still be there for days

as the ceaseless roar continues

to wreak its havoc, death and destruction.

Horrific scenes of war play out daily, globally

ghastly, unthinkable to any right-minded human.

The rest of us should remember how lucky we are.

Give thanks in your own way.

Ukraine

Sun rises, seeps light slowly,
undisturbed as she lights ruined
towns and villages of Ukraine
reminding us what life is now;
fragile, dangerous; more than ever.

That one man can make life so.
That one man can cause such hurt
is preposterous beyond thought
in the 21^st century.
But this war? It was planned.
The west knew it would happen
but decades of complacency
left allies with no defence.

Imagine hiding underground
for thirty days in the same clothes,
little food and sanitation.
Coming up and seeing the chaos;
bits of your house scattered
in every direction,
bodies in bomb craters in pieces,
knowing that you will never go back.

Now compare with life in England;
party-gate, porn watchers, Rwanda,
visas, farting cows, by elections
people gluing themselves to roads
company directors never richer
celeb’s celeb’ celeb’s
footballer’s wives
social media “influencers”
seventy thousand pound watches
genitalia paraded on TV.
What the hell have we become?
A sitting duck, that’s what.
We could never raise an army.
Think of Ukraine this festive time and if you pray, pray.

©Christopher Lloyd