Anti-War

Fellow Poets,

With so many great poems to choose from, this was a tough decision~I know how much heart and soul and talent goes into your poems. I loved all the different styles.  Every single entrant did a great job, all dripped Anti-War sentiments in your words.  Remember, this is subjective and my opinion only~kudos to all for entering.  As Kitty and Red and Zenith and others here would say--Peace V.  Thanks again.

Strider :)

I would like my poem to be included if you may (I just saw this today)

      Freedom of Choice

Lucky are those who were born free,
but senseless--forcing others to take it
Our very own cognizance of Freedom
may differ from those we want to impose.

While we clamor for gay and abortion rights,
and other human rights so many to mention,
do you really think other people care about these
when all their concern is the right to exist?

Do you believe we're truly an advocate for Freedom
when we encroach on foreign lands to satisfy our craving?
We just feed the needs of everyone's lust
for absolute power and total control.

We look dashing when we arrived on sheep's cloaks
and very eloquent spreading words about Democracy,
yet, don't you think we are trampling upon someone's rights
when we leave them no choice to embrace ours?

Those who accept our Trade with open arms
and support our ideologies, are mighty Allies...
But how do we treat and call those people
who are peacefully living before we give them Hell?

As long as we are engaged in galactic StarWars
and our greedy hearts don't fail to sustain,
then my dream of Peace and freedom to choose,
will be just that--just a Dream...

Pawns In Chess

I was born to fight and die tonight
For what's right in their evil eyes
What a glorious day to see the light
With my sunken, black eyes

So go ahead, send me into the fray
I can't be late for this war
I won't even ask while I'll perish today
Just remember what's been said before

The bullets whiz past, the explosions, so close
And the angel of death's on standby
The battlefield will be haunted by unknown soldiers' ghosts
And on the home front, wives and mothers cry

More bodies for the never ending graves
And a twenty-one gun salute for the fallen
We were pawns in chess, mindless slaves
Airborne with no parachute, just free falling

So go and throw you tinker tape parade
Hooray, yet another war won
But try not to think of the price that was paid
All the boys and girls ended by the gun

Congratulations to Tommytit!

I have posted these before, not for comp consideration.
But I did want to offer these for peaceful consumption. JJ
________________

"Do Not Die For Me"

Do not die for me
I will not kill for you
Do not die for me
You should never have a reason to

I will not kill for you
Why is that so hard to understand?
So do not die for me
Your blood is not welcome on my hands

What price salvation, Lord?
These things that man will do
But to take a human life
There should never be a reason to

What price salvation, God?
That another man should die for me
And save the lives, with guns and bombs
Of the suppressed who would be free

Do not Die for me
I will not die for you
You need not die for me
Jesus already has

01/22/1985
__________

"God's Children / One Family We Are"

I have no desire to become a hero
If what I do is bring a mother and a father sorrow
In a war where a man kills his brother
There can never be a winner
How does God classify a sinner?

And so what of the father and mother
Of the son who killed his only brother?
Which one was the hero in their family
The son who helped his country be free
Or the one who died for the Confederacy?

As we relive the lives of Cain and Abel
We will never escape the cycle if we are unable
To seek a permanent solution
I think we have an obligation
Aren't we all God's children?

03/03/1985
__________

"There's More Than One Way"

Now the Government has lost our trust
And the magnates who never agree
I'd give it all away if they would only see
There's more than one way to be all that you can be

Called a coward when I turned a cheek
But I won't fight for the life they seek
I want no part of their world if it is remade
Men proudly taking lives and waiting to get paid

Somewhere in a computer file
A statistic is all that I am
While on their chart and multicolored diagram
I may not have much but I'm happy who I am

So don't ever let your dreams escape
Or let anyone take them away
Don't measure them in terms of how much they may pay
Or you may be judged for the dreams that you betray

07/04/1987
__________

"Stars And Stripes"

A Vet I met, he called me dirt
To me he was a dinosaur
He said it was because I wore
The Stars and Stripes upon my shirt

Years before he fought a war
Somewhere inside of him he hurt
He displays his medals on his shirt
I wonder what he won them for

Maybe for honor and courage
Cause he was brave enough to kill
How often must we be made to pay
The price to conquer one more hill?

Those kinds of hills I will not climb
I do not wish to seem so tall
For the higher up that you ascend
The further down your soul can fall

08/12/1989
___________

"Empty Arms And Burning Flags"

We stopped hanging criminals
Because we thought it was too harsh
Why are we still hanging flags?
Let's bring them closer to our hearts

Liberty will not abandon us
In spite of what we lack
Why are you still burning flags
Don't burn the one that's on my back

Open your arms to embrace the cloth
And all it represents
Open your eyes and respect
The history that it reflects

Freedom is still our trademark
And it will never fall apart
I think we can hold the flag
A little closer to the heart

09/12/1989
__________

"Pride Blinds Biased Eyes"

So many have died
And what's it all for?
So that we can live on
To kill so many more?

There are bombs falling
Through the skies of Iraq
Each one is calling
For the freedom they lack

They call out the names
Of innocent young life
The sky fills with flames
Death decapitates strife

The target they sought
Dodged Justice's clinched hand
The soldiers who fought
Liberated the sand

How long will it take
To end this cycle of crime?
We've got all the power
So please unearth the time

No more excuses
War has gone on too long
We want peace not pieces
Before Justice is gone

Why won't you try it
Is your truth based of lies?
Why can't you see it
Has pride blinded your eyes?

03/30/2003
_________

"Nation's Pledge"

I pledge null allegiance to his flag
Of the coalated states of America
And to the Republicans for whom it stands
His Nation
Above God
Visibly
Liberating with force
and Justifying all
With fear of what might be
And greed for oil he can seize
Through too much pride in his country
God Bless the United.... Nations!

04/14/2003
__________

"Like Father, Like Son"

He knew, he knew all along
The coming war wouldn't take too long
He knew he had to act quickly to win
But even more quickly for war to begin

To begin the operation and finally crush Iraq
Or he would lose his chance for the mass attack
He set the course for all the lies he would put forth
To target someone to fill the empty shoes of Ollie North

Like father, like son, he needed someone he could blame
But false intelligence only leads to a greater family shame
Now this mighty nation must close the bleeding breach
Of trust, and wisely utilize the people's power to impeach

For the only mass destruction was to Iraqi lives and land
And now he's sure their weapons plan must be buried in the sand
His plan is clear, to create new laws for his absolute power
His corruption built with the bones unfound from either tower

All this time we wondered where all the innocent victims went
Now they've been found being used by King George, the pResident
Claiming to bring justice to US by freeing terrors firm controls
And just like those he hates, unjustly used our soldiers and their souls

06/17/2003
__________


"1000 Keys"

The globe is warming day by day
And a burning Bush will lead the way
Then from behind the Bush a chilling breeze
Comes to blow us all away
When Mother Nature's tears can freeze
He rapes her till her spirit leaves
Blazing with pride for all he strips away
Like the bark of fallen trees
A single sound of a thousand keys
Unshackling those hung there by his deeds
Soldiers falling to their knees
A mother found her child today
She wished the dead could pray
One hundred thousand silent pleas
Echo unheard by God through Heaven's haze
Still Allah heard each sing his name in praise
No missing souls, no WMD's

09/09/2004
__________

"Pay For The War"

Meanwhile al-Qaeda hides Osama in the Afghan hills
Spun and fled, they live to produce terror another day
In his oval orifice George seeks funds to ease the battle bills
Against his father’s enemy, he swears that he will pay
He’ll win the war at any cost, no matter who he kills

1888 U.S. soldiers dead along with the children of Iraq
Perhaps a distraction of destruction by nature’s forces would prevail
As Katrina stormed the Gulf he opportunely turned his back
He might drown out one mother’s tears with Mother Nature’s gale
Or did he just not care because his latest victims would be black?

Some feared the worst would be costly oil spills
Till the Chevy sunk the levee and the price rose anyway
Filling with water that need not have crossed those hills
Drowning the barren streets but the dead float anyway
The sunken city of New Orleans starves while his hungry war chest fills

Repeating the call though we have heard it all before
Impeach Gee-Dubbaya before he passes on the blame
Evict his whole God dam regime and lock the White House door
For there’s no amount of money that can buy away his shame
And one way or another we will pay for the war

09/03/2005
__________

JJ Joohnson

Thank you Strider and thank you everybody, there were so many good poems I didn't think I had a chance, well done to all the poets who entered