Srebrenica - Сребреница

Will humanity ever learn? Europes worst war crime since World War II brought home the fact that its not just Cambodia and distant places where massacres occur, but anywhere that there is hate. This time the Serb units in the area were in the wrong. Courts rules the Serb state as it was and is was not responsible. Last time it was the Utasha, Skanderberg SS and other Axis units, before that again Turkish and Russain aligned forces, and so on back in history. The only ones who hae massacred no one is the one all forget, the Romanies. ========== THE POEM ================= Rows and rows of headstones A sight we've seen before And beyond them the eye can see Rows and rows more... The dead of Srebrenica Victims of a war crime Their remains we look at today And wonder who and who by next time? Before it was Germans and Croatians And Bosnians and Kosovars too And the victims was the Serbs And the gypsies and the Jew And before them it was the others And back and back until Each side finds a reason why The other they have a reason to kill. What is it about humanity To kill each other we yearn The horrificness of history Does not seem to make us learn The only one people who suffers most And desires for revenge not Are maybe Gods only people left The gypsy that the world has forgot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.writingsinrhyme.com

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Reviews

[Sarah]

Haunting poem, I think you capture the harshness and cruelty of war and hate well through this poem without flourishing it or making it sound like something beautiful, which war is not. This is rarely seen in poetry as often metaphors and vivid imagery make harsh truths seem less real. I hope I am making sense, I really admire this poem.

[TL Boehm]

I deeply admire the way you have always been able to deal with brutality with clarity of thought and word - yet you get your point across completely. This piece is no exception. And it renders my heart broken.

[Scott H.]

I absolutely love this with the music in the background. Eastern European (and Irish, too!) folk music tells you all you need to know about heartache without trying.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Tomás,

I greatly enjoyed this. Your passion for bringing to light the injustices in the world shines through brightly. Very well done. Yes, how is it that man can do such things and at the same time profess that they are righteous, indeed a just and noble people? But they seem to find a way. We have a long way to go.

Very best regards,

Rick

[Legion]

I was just thinking about this topic today and lo and behold I come across this read request. Brilliantly stated. It is amazing to me that mankind has survived for as long as we have. If Ma Nature doesn't do us in, then we surely will. Great piece.

[alternative_be]

Beyond heartbreaking ... Living where I do, I remember the stories of my late grandparents and parents about WW I and WW II...
It seems in some countries people take peace for granted, though WWII ended only 65 years ago, many seem to have forgotten what happened during that war ... To me Srebrenica is Auschwitz reloaded into the 1990's ...
I have known victims who survived concentration camps other than Srebrenica in the former republic of Yugoslavia ... I will never forget them, for their stories were/are so alike my parents' and grandparents' ...
Poems like yours should be written more often! Maybe, just maybe, people would think before spreading hatred!

[Angelheaded Hipster]

You give me chills Sir, and you capture sadness, and rage with simplicity and beauty.

[J.P. Bristow]

you capture pain upon the page

[David Lewis Paget]

I share the outrage in this poem, at man's inhumanity to man. It does seem that we will never learn, and that atrocity is the one continuing link the human race is capable of throughout our chequered histories.

[C.T. Bailey]

So powerful and filled with sorrow for the inhumanity of humanity. I very much enjoyed your rhyme structure with both near rhymes and feminine rhyme. Very interesting composition. Well done....