A Peace of My Mind

Saturday night. No money, as ever. Freezing outside. What to do. Write a poem. Cuddle a cat. See my ignorance. Love is the only essential weapon.

Not null.

Divided we argue the toss,

so divided we'll drown bitterly,

all the precious time being lost,

each glories their particular misery,

one-sided views fired from ivory towers,

everyone pushing their predilect cause,

brandishing swords and trampling flowers,

pig-headed intolerance leads to arguments onto wars.

Dialogue is not a happy wedding bed of roses,

differences of opinion will never go away,

stuck in their rut some refuse to notice,

too busy to listen whilst having their say,

I don't much like your values,

you have no time for mine -

What do you suggest we do?

We are running out of precious time.

Let's just see the world as a family meal,

where half hate each other's guts over wine,

another quarter value the chance to heal,

while the last quarter have axes to grind,

few are at ease and we'll never be so,

you can read the stories in everyone's eyes,

the air is tense and could easily blow,

all we can do is discuss and be civilised,

nothing gets ironed out saying "us and them",

nothing is solved by anger and barbed wire,

we all suck is something vital to accept,

we won't put out the fires with more fires,

symptoms matter and need urgent treatment,

but the root of the problems most of all,

with every silly spat we become further weakened,

divided we argue the toss and divided we fall.

Not null.

Not null.

Reviews

[David Lewis Paget]

Would it ever be possible to come to a common conclusion about the various differences in the world's many cultures? I doubt it, and giving in to those who despise you for the sake of peace can only end badly.
Think Chamberlain at Munich - 'Peace in our time!' We in the so-called civilised West seem to have come to the conclusion that all people are the same, that if we only continue to show goodwill towards our fellow man, eventually they will be won over and put their hostility aside, so we can all link arms and sing Kumbaya. Not going to happen. Turning the other cheek is now seen as weakness, each instance an opportunity to further denigrate our culture. As long as there are developed and developing countries, haves and have-nots, there will be bitter resentment from the latter. The greater the world's population swells, the more we become like Lemmings, rushing towards the inevitable cliff.
You make many valid points in your poem, but they stem from a hopeful view of the world and its peoples, one that I don't share. History teaches us one thing, and that is that mankind has always solved its problems at the cutting edge by going to war. The price that we pay next time may well be too much to bear.

[Daniel Sala]

Thanks for the sincere and objective appraisal, David; feet on ground are better than heads in clouds.
Rather not remember Chaplin Chamberlain, except to draw on his error, as you well point out... As I said, I can look up and hope, but have to look down in shame at acknowledgement of "painful" truths. Just have to keep hoping and pushing uphill...
Many thanks for having taken the time to read this piece, much appreciated.

[Vidya Bacchus]

Mixed up you split personalities again you? lol

[Daniel Sala]

Exactly, don't know who is less pleasant, me or me...!

[☾Panda☽]

I like the story behind the poem, we all long for peace, but there are to many wars in this world. Also nice picture at the end

Sincerely Panda

[LovingJoy]

Hi, thanks for reading the poem and your pleasant comments - you are right, there are wars of all kinds, some not involving bloodshed, there are too many, and sadly there are also too many idiots and criminals in positions of power which is an issue that is the root of many of our woes, besides generalised human ignorance and lack of access to education and truthful information. Can't remember where I got the picture from, but presumably the lady is very brave all things considered.

[☾Panda☽]

Thank you for answering back and I agree with you

[Vidya Bacchus]

There should be no us and them there should only be we all together.People need to accept each other this is the only way we can ever evolve as a species me thinks:)