Here a poem that the children's author Michael Rosen wrote for the children of Gaza;

In Gaza, children,
you learn that the sky kills
and that houses hurt.
You learn that your blanket is smoke
and breakfast is dirt.

You learn that cars do somersaults
clothes turn red,
friends become statues,
bakers don’t sell bread.

You learn that the night is a gun,
that toys burn
breath can stop,
it could be your turn.

You learn:
if they send you fire
they couldn’t guess:
not just the soldier dies -
it’s you and the rest.

Nowhere to run,
nowhere to go,
nowhere to hide
in the home you know.

You learn
that death isn’t life,
that air isn’t bread,
the land is for all.
You have the right to be
Not Dead.
You have the right to be
Not Dead.
You have the right to be
Not Dead.

CYPRUS ’89: THE AFTERMATH

It’s been over a month
Since I’ve returned,
Yet this feeling is still lodged
In my heart where it burns.

Holiday blues lasting just days
Seems the price that others paid,
But I still suffer in a daze
Of angry pain that doesn’t fade.

Anger at the many lies of why
This land lies torn in two,
Why it’s people suffered and died
And thousands their love-ones lose.

Pain at the static status-quo,
Year after year of betrayed hope.
Anger again at the sly acquiescence
Of a world indifferent to Turkish aggression.

Sick to my soul, beyond consolation,
A dreadful mix of despair and desolation.
Difficult emotions to contain and cage,
But knowledge of injustice demands Pain & Rage.



This was written after my return from a summer holiday, where despite the Island’s intoxicating beauty, the legacy of the events of 1974, (ruined churches, border guards, refugees, deserted villages, etc..), deeply depressed me, as these grim reminders would to anybody acquainted with the betrayal of Cyprus and it’s people.

I feel especially in light of the Gulf War, in which Turkey masquerades as the champion of the small and weak against the strong aggressor, it is right to be reminded of her continuous illegal occupation of a third of Cyprus in direct contravention of over seventy United Nations Resolutions.

THE BARBARISM OF CAPITALISM

The Barbarians are in total control,
Now that Free Enterprise is in fashion.
Nothing is to be provided, only sold,
Cold hard cash wins over human compassion.

No time in this new Dark Age,
To think about your fellow Man.
Too busy playing Slave to the Wage,
Pre-programmed by that Money Masterplan.

“Free Market” is truly “Dog eat Dog”,
As God’s image is devalued & deformed,
By the blind selfish Creed of Greed,
To just another beast of burden shackled.

Surely Man was granted to be wise,
Distinct from other creatures on this earth,
To turn this World into a Paradise,
And value Life for its sacred worth.

But somehow we’ve managed to lose,
Our ability to be moved by kind emotions,
Justice, Love, Pity, Mercy & Virtue,
Are empty slogans for abstract notions.

Can we ever regain that supernatural belief,
That it is better to give than receive ?
To become once again that divine fusion,
Of Flesh and Spirit called a Human Being.

Inhuman Words

Torture Lite,
Stress & Duress
Sensory Deprivation,
Intense Isolation

Diet Regime Control:
Force-fed pork and alcohol
“Flying to Hong Kong”:
Sleep Disorientation

Psychological Ops
Sensory Overload
Canine Intimidation
Mock Execution

Coercive Interrogations:
Broken Bones
Punishment Enemas:
Anal Rapes

Prolonged Hooding
Bright Light Exposure
Sexual Humiliation
Mandated Masturbation

Naked Pyramids
Trophy Pics
Dietary Measures;
Eating Shit

Ice Cold Showers
Removal Of Clothes
Chest Compression
Denial of Medication

Compromised Respiration;
Asphyxiation
Control Technique;
"Palestinian hanging"

Elements Exposure
Feigned Drowning
Open-handed slapping
Phobias Exploitation

The On/Off People

Is Empathy an emotional switch
That turns on when its one of “Ours”
And off for when it’s those Non-People
Namelessly named “Collateral Damage”

Can Politicians understand the pain
Of grieving parents who believed the Lies,
And will never see their child again, but told
“Fallen in Duty”, “Friendly Fire”, “Tragic Accident”

Expressed condolences sound quite sincere,
As they speak of the “Ultimate Sacrifice”
Paid for the “Priceless Freedom” we have,
That same Freedom they now seek to erode.

Strange they never speak the pain
Of those Nameless destroyed lives,
Parentless children, Childless parents,
Sole surviving family members.

Does it take a Tsunami to connect
The deaths of innocents by War to
The deaths of innocents by Waves
To realise that Life is precious for all

For Politicians perhaps not so strange
Unconditional Empathy cannot be felt
By those who are unable to feel that
Most Human of emotions, for Shame.

2006/2007 Murdering The Years

I'm in a sombre, reflective mood, which is what has probably lead me to seek out this outlet for my feelings. A mood no doubt brought on partly by the fire crackers I can hear as I write this, which signals both the end of 2006 & start of a new year, and also partly by those images of a man, calmly & with undeniable great dignity, playing out his final part in the masquerade orchestrated by our Leaders of Lies.

I know that he himself was ruthless & showed no mercy at all to his many victims, yet even for somebody like that, it was unnerving to watch hooded men causally put a noose around another human's neck, taunting & insulting, before putting him to death. In a strange way, it feels that the greater the criminal, the more necessary it seems to be for our own self-respect, to be able to raise ourselves above base instincts of retribution & vengeance, and to prove to the criminal, and more importantly to ourselves, that we are different to the criminal exactly because we are capable of keeping our morals & ethics intact, we are capable of something no murderer can be, of mercy & respecting the life of a fellow human being, even a mass murderer's.

The whole Iraq affair has badly affected me, going right back to the insanity of the Iraq/Iran War, to the 1^st Gulf War, the decade of the relentless "No Fly Zone" bombings, the UN sanctioned genocidal "sanctions", and of course the latest Crime Against Humanity against Iraq, it's horrendous invasion, occupation & repercussions.

Perhaps blogging will replace my normal outlet for such feeling, which is poetry, and at a time like this, I find myself going back to my old file of half completed poems, and bring out one, which I no longer want to finish, as it now seems so apt to let it end abruptly as did the life of its main protagonist. –

The Bombing of Eden

It happen before, that Cruise missiles rained down
Upon Mesopotamian towns with Biblical names
Without mercy that ancient land did they pound
Destroying people and buildings, filling in graves.

Using a trap as a pretext, was it just a decade ago,
The light to Kuwait for Saddam turned Green
The Americans saying "it's an Arab affair", Go !
After all for this, for years had they schemed.

"To right a wrong" Bush Senior did say,
To restore Kuwait as it was before.
"To right a wrong" Saddam did say
To restore Kuwait to Iraq as it was before.

And so the relentless bombing succeeded
Kuwait was Kuwait again as he retreated
But was that not a mistake, not to pursue,
Perhaps at least a civil war we can induce.

Rise up you Southern Sh'ites , Kurds of the North
We will support you, with our bombing campaign
The No-Fly Zones will insure henceforth
That if Saddam kills you, it won't be by plane.

The Rebellion is crushed and thousands did die,
For that inglorious plan to bring down that Man
Bush's anger increased from the sky
A decade of relentless bombing began.

Year after year, the bombings kept on
Yet still He remained, He and his Sons
Oxymoroning those plans of the Pentagon
Instead of weakening, He was second to none.

Not enough people dying to dislodge him ?
An orchestrated genocidal sanctions route
Will get through to every Iraqi Muslim
That supporting Him is not at all astute.

However the Planners have still not learnt
People who feel threaten will unite and resist
And rally to their Leader through fear and hurt
Even to Him, who most would like to dismiss.

The Father is now gone and the Son appears
To finish the job, whatever it takes, no matter the cost
Lies upon lies, and the people of Iraq start to fear
When Blair joins the game, all Peace has been lost.

For War will prevail under repeated lies,
A precedent set by the attack on the Serbs
An act of aggression, disguised and justified
By propaganda that was sublimely superb

Back to Iraq and all pretence is now off,
We aim to kill him, and all in our way
Our smart weapons will find him if he coughs
We'll level whole blocks, it's worth the slay.

Damn we keep missing, but still kill scores
Let's Shock and Awe them like frighten sheep
Death and destruction upon them we did pour
Not bothering to keep count of lives so cheap.

Now we have to go in as he just won't die
At least it's like ten Goliaths, we cannot lose
First we blast them to Hell, then watch them fry
As we have the Power and plan to misuse.

We carpet bombed with cluster & napalm
Just to test our great efficiency at killing
B-52s and Sleaths dropped without qualm
The scale of it all was thoroughly thrilling.

How cowardly they run from our finery
Instead of melting in sand, they get flighty
Better not try and hide in those Refineries
As that would be one dilemma almighty

It's safe to go in, now their army’s a relic
Using antique arms we sold decades ago
To use now on us would be quite pathetic
Good money was made, arming Him & his Foe.

When Saddam was ours, we were so sympathetic
Banned weapons & gas from us did flow
Although what was supplied then seems ironic
But Profit & getting Khomeini, our noble goals.