murmurs and shrapnel viii

What difference
does it make
to the dead
the orphans
and the homeless
whether the mad destruction
is wrought under the name
of totalitarianism
or the holy name of liberty
or democracy?

A hopeful time
as we celebrate
the end of one year.

A special envoy finds
mounting children deaths
victims of nighttime actions
yielding lethal outcomes.

The end of one year
the beginning of another
a difficult time for many
yet look back with the knowledge
that brighter days are ahead of us.

The military insists
the victims were armed militants
but initial investigations say
eight were enrolled in local schools.

The challenges are great
each of us has the courage
and determination
to rise up
and meet them.

An explosion in the city district
of bad Dad
wounded scores of children
and killed at least one
conflicting theories
about the explosion’s cause
leaves local security officials
suggesting an errant rocket.

In the spirt
that has kept the dream
alive for generations
that same spirit
will keep it alive
for even more generations.

One is left
with the horrible feeling
that war settles nothing
that to win a war
is as disastrous
as to lose one.

– matt at shadow of iris

[The first verse is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, the last verse is a quote from Agatha Christie, the rest of the italics are from recent news altered slightly, and the bold is mostly the u.s. president's new year remarks, altered slightly.]