The War Zone

An acrostic for a change today.

The War Zone

Pray for the children, their torn lives
Ruined by the war. Who survives
And lives is a throw of the dice, chance:
Yet day by day more die, a macabre dance;
Fight the good fight, but this is not that:
Once a proper justification, lost in diktat;
Revenge is now the meal, eaten hot:
Careless leaders stir hatred in the pot;
Every day a child is wounded, or dies,
And a deaf world cannot hear the cries;
Such is political expediency, not to hear
Every mother weeping, every last tear;
Fear stalks the land, and peace is vain:
Incessant drones fall as deadly rain,
Reach into the towns, bringing pain;
Every time a ceasefire is asked, “No!”
Is the answer, fighting on, blow by blow;
Neither side are leaders prepared to talk:
Gaza battered, ruins, yet still they baulk,
And more die, the suffering innocent;
Zone of death, a straight path bent:
And now a call for peace in Lent.