I don’t wish to take sides, this poem could be called Israel Weeps, but I believe there has been more grief and weeping in Gaza and the West Bank than in Israel. There have been over 47,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict against less than 3,000 Israelis, and so it’s Gaza weeps.

A controversial poem which will cost me some followers. They say that there are two sides to every story but I believe more than two sides in wars. There are the many innocent mothers, fathers and children caught up in a conflict not of their making or desire. There are the politicians, thirsty for victory and blood who have no regard for the sanctity of life and no care for the broken lives, the carnage, the human damage, the destruction of homes and businesses. There are the terrorists, who use the innocent as human shields and for their own propaganda, again, with no care for the broken lives, the carnage, the human damage, the destruction of homes and businesses on any side of any dispute. There are, in this conflict, the religious zealots, for YHWH (Yahweh), for Mohammad, or Allah, for any excuse to kill, to maim, to destroy. One day there will be a reckoning where these people will have to account for their actions be they Jew, Muslim, or Atheist. They will be counted as goats.

Matthew 25:32-33 WEB
Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [33] He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Romans 12:19 WEB
Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”

Matthew 16:26-27 WEB
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? [27] For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.

---

A Palestinian man carries a child casualty following Israeli strikes on houses in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

---

Dust hangs heavy in the air,

A shroud upon a city’s despair.

Shattered windows, hollow eyes,

Reflecting pain beneath bruised skies.

~

A mother’s cry, a father’s grief,

For stolen lives, beyond belief.

The rumble echoes, a haunting sound,

As shattered dreams lie on the ground.

~

Children huddle, fear in their gaze,

Lost in the labyrinth of these dark days.

Where laughter once filled every street,

Now only echoes of fleeing feet.

~

The stones remember whispered tales,

Of love and hope that now bewails.

A broken land, a wounded heart,

When will the tearing pieces part?

~

For peace to bloom, a fragile flower,

Nourished by hope in this bitter hour.

A city weeps, a world in pain,

Longing for solace, and the sun to reign.

~

For understanding on either side,

As into peace not war they slide.

To love their neighbour as they should,

Together for the greater good.

---

© Richard J Kirk, writing as Joseph R Mason – 2025

About me…

If you like what you read, treat me to a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/josephiu

Thank you.