Poems, Prayers, and Promises

R.M. Dolin, November 10, 2023

Darkness stealthy encroaches on tentative whispers
whose deafening silence foreshadows 
the extent to which this night,
like endless nights before,
and more demonic ones to come,
will not end well.
Rockets rain down in a centuries-old
tradition as mothers sooth their children's 
anxiety with poems of far-away make-believe places where
peace is allowed to prosper.
Forgetting their fear, old men sift through 
bombed-out rubble for food
in the hope of feeding their families.
They know in their wisdom the futility of prayer,
but pray they do just the same. 
The suffocating sound of sirens are 
certain in their promise. . .
the unfinished lie
everyone believes to drown
out the senseless destruction.

Why one wonders, after all the 
poems, prayers, and promises,
does the world continually cascade into
chaos, conflict, and catastrophe?

Note 1: Written after reading about the suffering of the Palestinian and Israel people in their current conflict.

Note 2: Title taken from a John Denver song/album.

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