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on Ukraine
now, in other newswinter comes to clog the wheelsfurniture in fire ~ n.b. Days into years, years into tears. CLP 11/11/2023 →
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on peace
All I rememberIn no particular orderBiafraVietnamSharpvillePragueBelfastVietnamBirminghamMLkRobert KennedyArgentinaPLOEcuadorKampucheaGuatamalaBoliviaLennonSri LankaAlgeriaTiananmenJonestownIRAETARAFUDFThe BelgranoHungerfordColumbineIsisal-QaedaSudanRwandaBosniaDunblaneLibyaSyriaChechnyaTwin TowersPalestineGaza9/117/7AtochaNiceBataclanBrusselsUkraineI could go onIt’s never stoppedand all the time the History Channelreplays The HolocaustHiroshimaNagaskiD-Dayand elsewhere, to lighten the loadM.A.S.H.~n.b. All the while the rich get richer, the bombs keep falling, bullets fly and shares in weaponry increase in value.Meanwhile, someone carves a trite message on a →
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on bread
visit Oradour-sur-Glane to seea town’s remainsplaces of worship burnt outeven the bakeries razedwho can plan and executesuch systematic revenge?who thought such crueltywould return live on rolling newswhile the world switches channelsshielding eyes this timefrom the smitingStar of David glows in angerbecomes a searing firebrandstamped on the flesh of children ~ n..b. Last Saturday a man →
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on numbers
Gaza’s two milliondivided by twenty trucksneeds a miracle ~ n.b. If you believe in miracles, maybe the five fish and two loaves story might be repeated and the twenty permitted lorries of aid crossing from Egypt into Gaza, will do the trick and feed the two million. Call me a Doubting Thomas, I don’t think →
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on Ukraine
persistent drizzlelet’s talk about the weatherwinter looms again ~ n.b. The last weeks before everything slows up and armies dig in for another miserable winter. CLP. 17/10/2023 →
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on Ukraine
diffused sunlight onroads, rivers, fields, autumn leavesspread of crimson hue ~ CLP 10/10/2023 →
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On Ukraine
Bang, bang, bang. Door closed.Someone’s knocking on each side.Do not let them in. ~ n.b. Day 583. Futility. “Was it for this the clay grew tall?” (Wilfred Owen). CLP 29/09/2023 →
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on Ukraine
I read five, eight, oneBefore too long it’ll be yearsLosing track of time ~ n.b. Every single day there is more war. Some people are getting very rich. There is always money for war, but for earthquakes and securing infrastructure, not so much. CLP 28/09/2023 →
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on Ukraine
tuning out the newsvillages lost or regainedwe head for the beach ~ n.b. War, long periods of boredom, broken by moments of complete terror, so something like that. I’m lucky to live in a country where a lost village means coastal erosion, no longer Viking longships full of men seeking new land to farm. CLP →
Journey of Words 