The Fall of Aleppo

The Fall of Aleppo

The Assyrian armies swept the plain:
Brought heartbreak, destruction, pain;
And Persia stretched forth mighty arm,
To bring conquest, tribute, harm;
And of all the centuries passed away,
This is still a burning judgement day,
And lessons learnt: none. Mankind same:
Wars fought for territory, no hint of shame;
Now buses burn, and no one can leave,
And sick and injured, in mercy grieve;
Hungry, deserted, clinging to hope,
Somehow find the strength to cope;
The fighting fierce, a storm of shells,
Creating on earth, these pocket hells;
Bloodstained, always innocent hurt:
A town left in rubble, of dust, of dirt;
The destruction that wastes at noon:
Won’t someone do something, soon?
A pestilence that walks in darkness:
The ruined hospital in all its starkness;
No sanitation: the plague comes by day,
Still the people cannot leave, but stay;
When will there be peace in this place,
And mercy show a human face?
Surely the time is now: need so great:
Tortured land, the time so very late;
Hope in ruins, and the fall of the city:
Burning, burning, come take pity.