It counts for nothing
Bravery and strength count for nothing
Against the blast of missiles.
Skill does not protect against
Jagged shrapnel or speeding bullet.
Death is dispensed from distance
Dispassionately,
From judgements made on screens,
Emanating from the decisions of politicians.
Warfare is now a product of machines
With nobody distant from the front line.
War is in your front room.
A game of power.
Opher – 26.6.2019
Every night I watch the scenes of shattered cities. We build them up and we knock them down. They could be in Syria, Yemen or Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria or Libya. They all look the same – piles of rubble. The images are similar – with bloody traumatised children being pulled from rubble, people desperately digging for their buried loved ones, limbs lost, heads bandaged and always that same bewildered look in empty eyes.
As drones patrol the skies and administer payloads of fury.
Soldier’s training counts for little in the mayhem of modern battle. It’s all luck.
Being a civilian provides no immunity.
As politicians vie to gain advantage and push the pieces on the board. Starvation, disease, terror or bombs – the method is immaterial.