Tanks roar and bullets fly
explosions light up the midnight sky
and as I look through the dense night air
the intermittent flashes reveal a living nightmare
Of broken bodies and tortured minds
the artistry of selfish leaders’ designs
I try my best to do what is right
but in their own minds, so do those who I fight
as I looked down the length of the barrel of my gun
and I wonder if really by it, peace really can be won
when I couldn't even use my med kit to save my friends
it doesn't seem fair to say the means can justify the ends
so much is coming undone, so much lost
tomorrow might bring victory, but does anyone know the cost
will anything be left when all is done
what will we find at the rising of the sun
and so the sky clears and silence reigns
many will never speak again, but I won't forget their names
let's leave this place, just move on they say
tomorrow is the start of a whole new day
but yesterday still lives inside of me
what I saw then I can never unsee
it might be over for you
who first hand this war never knew
but those who were part of this battleground
all too clearly recognise the sound
of the ghosts that feed
on the wounds that bleed
scarred earth
lost worth
scattered homes
broken bones
displaced
defaced
debased
disgraced
ungloved
and unloved
who are we now?
but now a change of scene, a change of pace
The main protagonist now has a different face
I speak no longer as me, but as you
living your life doing what you do
driving your car walking your streets
meeting all the different folks that you meet
there are no guns firing bullets in the air
but look one more time look closer if you dare
if God’s peace is being made whole inside
then war is found in all in whom this peace is denied
a little inside you and me
but look a little further and soon you'll see
a world filled with brokenness
with people struggling with this mess
someone facing poverty
to satiate and others need for novelty
the consequences of selfishness
breed overwhelming loneliness
physical need
and growing greed
domestic violence
voices silenced
inequality
brutality
anxiety
notoriety
we think we live in times of peace
but I promise you war is far from deceased
as we open our eyes and look on
we seem powerless and hope gone
we need more than bandages and a sticky plaster
to mend our broken world from this disaster
but now bare with me just one last time
before we come to the conclusion of this depressing rhyme
I know the picture I have painted is fairly bleak
and seemingly bleakest of all is the final character to speak
not a war-torn metropolis or suburban Daydream
but a cross on a hill is our final scene
the only one able to repair the damage we've dealt
was rejected cast out and from our world expelled
but this man fully God and all that that's worth
came for only one reason to get the hell out of earth
to remove the stuff inside of us the tends to destruction
and to heal what it's done and make a new construction
where our selfish victories hold defeat within
this great selfless loss was our greatest win
we've been made whole by the spirit of the son
a victory achieved but our battle begun
he invites us now to join this war on war
to heal broken people and this world to restore
not a selfish mission to conquer and oppress
but to pour ourselves out like Him, to heal and to bless
to use out time, our money, our minds, our creativity
our strength, our voices, our compassion, our sensitivity
to walk alongside the addicted
to speak words to the afflicted
to listen to the isolated
to mobilise the incapacitated
to be a voice to the voiceless
bring shelter to the homeless
find safety for the vulnerable
and love the unloveable
to meet rudeness with grace
anger with a loving embrace
revenge with forgiveness
cruelty with kindness
to care
and to share
through him we can start to reverse this brutality
and begin to make peace on earth a reality
Originally written for the November 2022 ABC Newsletter
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