I read the words of man’s history
written down long ago
of battles that raged across the world
as the sea’s tides did ebb and flow
I listened closely to thoughts of men
and watched the battles unfold
but little was learned in eons of time
loss of life grew to levels untold
Echoes in time, the battle cries heard
and lines were drawn in the sand
Warning bells sounded, ignored and unheard
and groups of men, together did band
They muted the clash of steel on steel
and fire dropped from the sky
the gauntlet was thrown; the bells did peal
for revenge, an eye for an eye.
Men saw the forging of iron wills
And secret plans were created
Men sent off to scour the hills
To search for the man most hated
Fueled by false promises, lying words
minds plotted, gave rise to invasion
A foreign country and its people now bear
the brunt of his gift of persuasion
In his address to the nation
He gave no apology
Where scant years before, to a people he swore
they have not the technology
Weapons of mass destruction were sought
He swore no clemency
not found, there was no evidence
Forsook diplomacy
Turned to the people, his heart was hardened
And shook his fist in the air,
trust me he said, I know they are there
and our fight is fair
Then under the guise of darkness
Another plan was hatched
And allowed was he, he began to turn the press
As the world looked on and watched
Ships then set sail on stormy seas
And on far off shores came to rest
Loaded with men, bulging arms,
Flexed their necks, the best of the best
Unloaded their weapons, set for destruction
And once there, did wait for instruction
Once given the nod, all said and done
The invader promised reconstruction
Now the sounds of thunder roar through the sky
And the bombs reach their destinations
Discarded their oaths pledged in membership
They belonged to the United Nations
Like the broken treaties and peace accords
with Indian nations long past
When double edged words and razor’s edge swords
ensured that the die was cast
In the time of the man called yellow hair
A nation downtrodden and crushed
Women and children, a burden to bear
Onto reservations were pushed
When blankets given a people for warmth
held the secret ingredient of death
And as before mothers do mourn
as their children take their last breath
Echoes of times gone by now present
caused by another great clash
Men rise up, everyone braces,
set are they for backlash
A mighty man’s words fired a nation
and they fed on the flames of wrath
embers were stoked with the bones of the dead,
fires blazed a new path
Painted with blood of the people
Their bodies grow cold on the ground
The spark that once lit their lives
Blunted, disposed not found
And of their land, were dispossessed
Deposed also, was their leadership
While gunfire blazed all around
A nation pledged its kinship
And many more lives were lost as they hustled
And people flocked in the rush
To follow the ranting, the eye of the eagle
in the land of the burning Bush
From time to time in the name of religion,
lands torn asunder by fire
Unfounded claims and empty finds
only caused to increase this man’s ire
The decision made he then wielded the lash
and cracked the whip with power
Took the bull by the horns, through stubbornness sworn
now the man of the hour.
Hungry and greedy for riches of lands
and barrels of oil did he plunder
And through this greed and quest for more
he did tear a land asunder
The wheels set in motion the glutton did forge
a plan to lay waste a nation
A well trodden path in the valley of greed
To the sound of hall’o’Burton’s oration
History needs to repeat it seems
despite the best efforts of Jung
While mothers in lands near and far
Do mourn the death of their young
Over yonder hills, the battle did rage
and warring men did swarm
Where a while ago they spent several weeks
battling the long desert storm
Go and forage and search the land
commanded the old burning Bush
And now once again do warring men rush
and look to that nation to crush
Everyone loses, men fall to the ground
and are cradled in the arms of the grave
While the man of power, from his place in white tower,
continues to rant and to rave
Though the loss of life blood does not deter
nor turn his mind from the fight
Nor does it quench his thirst for blood,
He feeds on power and might
To play the game and sacrifice men’s lives,
pawns on the checkered board, both sides
He gathers the world posse, and on their backs
bored knights in his service, he rides
The mighty man to the world he berates,
do it my way or else he dictates
No matter the lies or half truths he utters,
his cause is just or so he States
Like men of old through power and might
who stained the fields, and bloodied them red
Again we find mothers who mourn,
their children lay dead, more tears are shed
Unease, unrest, hate and intolerance,
both sides seeded and sown take root
Lives torn apart, and innocence slain,
fragile peace dies under the boot
Marched on and found nothing then claimed to fight
for the people we must ensure their rights
And demolished homes and neighborhoods
and then he continued, ignored their plights
He swore an oath and riddled the land
With a hail of bullets, while bombs did rain
Screams howled in the wind and curdled the blood,
the death toll mounted again
The fruit of the land , once prized and luscious,
now shriveled and abhorrent
Now despised, rights are discarded
Just so that his spleen might vent
He bared his teeth, honed razor sharp
on splintered and naked bones
of the innocent caught in the crossfire
And overhead on flew the drones
Trapped by the silken strands of thoughts
woven into the spider’s web
Through hidden intentions the currents torment,
fear rises, does not ebb.
This man’s edicts and actions decreed
A ripple effect gathered strength and speed
The web of deceit spins out of control
A new trap created by passion and greed
A witch hunt continues, the cauldron bubbles
It boils, and when stirred, emotional troubles
Burning the hearts of mothers who mourn
Their children, life from whom was torn
Lessons once learned, now lost in the haze
While fires rage through the Bush
Into the mind of man he dictates
his rule, follow me or I’ll push
In a battle worn world, the gap widens distance
The causeways flood with tears
Brother to brother much life is lost
Causes bled throughout the years
History repeats, how many times have we seen
that bloodshed causes division
How many must die, how long shall it be,
when shall we cease this derision
Must we pave the road with corruption and hate
drive a wedge to the core of the earth
and breach the heart of the nation
that erupts from much slandered worth
Gather the skeletal remains of that land
children lay dead, felled by guns and their bullets
Earth shaking battle tanks roll like thunder,
While warships sail into the inlets
Shattered lives, shell-shocked people
Gathered together, a herd
And once again, through battle cries
the beat of the drum is heard
The warning bells sounded, but were ignored,
Only to fall on deaf ears
And to this day they still remain
Unheard, a thousand years
How many times must this world be divided,
when will our hearts conquer strife
When will this world heed the cries of its mothers
Who brought to the world all life
Despair their lost efforts in birthing the world
at the mercy of hovering vultures
In lands close and far, Mothers still mourn
the death of their children, their cultures
By: Deborah McIntosh
Amnesty International