BURNT UMBER NIGHTS

BURNT UMBER NIGHTS

 

I gaze with horror through the cracks in my window

wire’s sizzle, smoldering fires, mottled images

of men with rocks, explosives

dust leaks through the slits, my lungs full

night sky ablaze with precise bombs

like the fireworks of celebration

children who survive

roam the sooty canyons

in search of their family

most with scars of the battle

 

The other side wards off the night rockets

as they bite and burst like streamers in the burnt umber sky

they too bomb the enemies’ targets         

blaring sirens alert the rush to bomb shelters

tunnels dug from the rival

blast as explosions rip them to shreds

artillery rolls to the cause

on both sides, more human lives taken

 

 

Author's Note

Took this photograph from a video TV news

Reviews

[Tertia]

The pointlessness of war, no one ever wins and there are losses on both sides.

[Betty Hermelee]

Indeed, this is true, and thanks you for reviewing, always appreciated
Best, B.

[Tertia]

And one day we will build a peace that lasts for all nations

[Unspoken poet]

I am afraid we will be at war again soon, I don't understand why we all just can't live in peace. Guess i hope too much, I understand this write, sad really

[Betty Hermelee]

thank you for your kind words,
Betty

[Relic]

I've been following this war online for days. Not surprisingly, as I'm writing this, 20 minutes before an agreed cease fire, new rocket alerts are going out. 100 years of unrest will never rest it seems. History has conditioned each side to fight no matter how many years go by. Very sad.

[Betty Hermelee]

Yes, I hope there will be a truce.
Thank you so much for reading.
Best,
Betty

[Chris Shaw]

Israel/Palestine came to the forefront of my mind Betty when I read your powerfully descriptive lines. I too have been watching footage on TV and was horrified to see children standing by while rockets were launched to inflict the utmost damage on the other side. No one wins in war. Everyone is a loser. The hatred passes down the generations, festering away. So, so sad, all conflict.

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

You guessed it right, I hope there will be truce very soon. Thanks for visiting and and writing a thoughtful review. Always, B

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, hope a truce comes quickly Betty.

[Lorry]

This could be any war, anywhere at any time, but with the recent constant play of atrocities against innocent civilians and journalists becoming targets in the never ending Isreal/ Palestine conflict, my mind instantly jumped to that.
This could have been any one of us, going about our day wherever we are, when our lives torn apart without any notice of the futility that will no doubt continue.
I've been very good of late in swearing, but war... S**t it!

[Betty Hermelee]

Thanks so much for reading Lorry, it is actually the Palestine-Israeli war.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and no one every really wins...just a ledger of casualties...and then families with bodies missing from the Sunday dinner table...
bodies missing parts....and minds just shattered.
This is so powerful...we not only see and hear but feel the consequences.
"War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" (Edwin Starr)

[Poetic Beauty]

The carnage that war creates is unfathomable to me. It’s destruction can last for centuries and the horror that people go through while living through war is traumatic and heartbreaking.

You paint such real images in this poem.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you for your thoughtful review!
Best, B