SOLDIERS IN THE SAND: A Message for All Armed Fighters

	Does it matter which color flag you followed
	when your skeleton rots in the sand?

	Does it matter which ideology you believed
	when maggots burrow into your hand?

	Perhaps what matters is simple:
	the person within your rifle cross-hairs,
	the child walking towards an immanent snare,
	the families near a drone attack
	are like you in many ways.

	Blind allegiances make people insane:
	why can't we affirm what unites us
	instead of seeking selfish gains?

	Will we ever cease the rhetoric
	poisoning our ears?

	Isn't it obvious knee-jerk reactions
	only lead to more bloodshed and fear?

	When we look beyond dogmas,
	and actually begin to see,
	an ocean of suffering then appears:
	how many millions have shattered dreams?


Ying:     The only way to have peace in Iraq is to divide the country along ethnic and
          religious lines: let the Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds each have their own independent states.

Frida:    (chuckling) That would only foster further conflict because no one can agree
          where the boundaries are be.

Dmiritri: (shrugging his shoulders) The Middle-East always has had – and perhaps will
          always have – conflicts. There's nothing anyone can do about it.

Satoru:   (vexed) How can you say that so nonchalantly?

Dmiritri: Well, if you look at the stars and start to remember how inconsequential we are,
          isn't it easy to feel nonchalant about everything on our small planet?

=====================================================================================
from Peace Pieces: Reflections on Violence and Conflict Resolution by T Newfields
SUMMARY:  An image, poem, and conversation about the bloodshed in Iraq and other nations.
KEYWORDS: peace poetry, global issues, military conflicts, aggressive ideologies

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955)
Begun: 1995 in Shizuoka, Japan ⩝ Finished: 2023 in Yokohama, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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Translations

Chinese   https://www.tnewfields.info/zh/yilake.htm
Japanese  https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/iraku.htm
Spanish   https://www.tnewfields.info/es/irak.htm