I Do Not Want To Read Of War
©2022 Louise Gallagher
I do not want to read of war
I do not want to hear the stories
look at the photos
watch the videos
see the bodies
lying in the streets
the animals left behind and killed
the homes destroyed
the buildings demolished
I do not want to know of its power
to desecrate
diminish
and destroy
Dreams. Hope. Life.
I do not want to look away.
To look away is to deny
the horror of what is happening
to people
just like me
who live and work and love and play
who walk their dogs
and hold the hands of the ones they love
and caress the faces of their children and grandchildren
who go to work
and drive to the grocery store
or walk to their favourite coffee shop
to spend an hour or two visiting with friends.
I do not want to cry
for the fathers, sons and daughters
who put down the tools of their trades,
their studies and their work
to don battle dress and guns.
I do not want to weep
for the children and their mothers
and the elderly and disabled
with whom they huddle
in bomb-shelters and barns and basements
waiting for release
waiting for a time when bombs
do not desecrate
diminish
and destroy
Dreams. Hope. Life.
But I must
look and see and bear witness
I must acknowledge
what is happening
so that I can hold
this hurting world
in arms and words and thoughts
that do not
desecrate
diminish
or destroy
Dreams. Hope. Life.
So that perhaps,
one day,
the children and their mothers
the grandparents and disabled,
the fathers, sons and daughters
can return
home
to rebuild their lives
in peace.
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Dare Boldly 
I loved your blog today you expressed so beautifully what I feel about this war i am so pleased it is exactly as i fee about it feel guilty that I just am turning the Tv off with tears iin my eyes and pain in my heart
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Hugs my dear friend. I too turn off the new with tears in my eyes and pain in my heart. ❤ ❤ ❤
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This is exactly how I feel. Your poetry nailed it. It’s so awful. Just like it was in Syria where 5M are still living in “camps” in squalor. May this not be the end result for Ukraine. But once it’s over the rebuilding. It’s like the Second World War but in only one country. Hugs. Bernie
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Thank you Bernie. Yes, exactly as it was and continues to be in Syria. And yes, let’s hope this is not the end rsults for Ukraine. Hugs back. ❤
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Oh how I liked this
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❤
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Exactly.
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❤
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Breaks my heart, dear Louise…and your words touch me deeply as they resonate what lies in my heart. It almost seems impossible that all of this can be going on in this day and age. It is indeed hard to look – and yet we must because we need to know that it exists so we can get busy sending out love and peace to our fractured world.
I hope you are well, my friend. Thank you for always expressing your heart with such eloquence. ❤
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Thank you dear Lorrie — yes — we must get busy sending out love and peace. Much gratitude for you. ❤
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