Poet in the Woods: Lebanon

Thursday, 26 September 2024

Revenge is such an ugly word,

Vendetta, feud, so sad, absurd

As life is tough at best of times,

Just look at history for signs…

Our planet is all we have got

Why must we its edges rock?

Why can’t people pull together?

Conflict starts at end of tether…

A case in point: the Middle East

Always jeopardising Peace;

A powder keg with a short fuse

Whose politics makes headline news…

On the sidelines, we observe

The creation of huge curve,

Which could, if feelings run too high,

Overwhelm, so more souls die…

Why do we choose to live this way?

Allies form, then slip away

Our chessboard plays resentful pawns

And today this poem spawns!

Saturday, 21 September 2024

It’s time once more to pen new thoughts

And paint the world with all its warts*

As exploding pagers** hit the news

And debates across the States confuse...

There’s Portugal - engulfed by flames

Central Europe – where it rains

So floods endanger myriad homes;

What a cataclysm of unknowns!

We should tread carefully, pay more heed;

Man’s life is in his hands, we read

But as I search for seeds of hope,

I dangle from a much-frayed rope!

* What Oliver Cromwell purportedly said in the 17th century when sitting for his portrait : "Paint me, warts and all!"

** In Lebanon

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