Once upon a time, I wrote poetry!

Somewhere deep inside my #LetsDiscuss2020 #DiscussionSunday post about my regimen vs. impulse posting, I posed the question if anyone thought it might be fun for me to post some of my poetry here on my blog. Well, a couple of people showed interest, and I appreciate that. As for the rest of you, you are welcome to just click or scroll on by if you aren’t poetry people (I promise, I won’t be the least bit offended)!

This one was written in 2000 and updated several times before it was published in 2016.

Blood Brothers – A Pantoum

Hear, O Israel and Ishmael’s sons,
Growling behind our misfortunes of birth,
Ancient disputes seethe with dogma as fuel –
Scores of our martyrs are blocking our path.

Growling behind our misfortunes of birth,
Horsemen disguised as our prophets of hope –
Scores of our martyrs are blocking our path,
Land is just dirt and is not worth our blood.

Horsemen disguised as our prophets of hope;
Fear stains our movements and colors our nights.
Land is just dirt and is not worth our blood,
Who will protect us when gods turn away?

Fear stains our movements and colors our nights.
Goodwill: the one ruse we’ve yet to employ.
Who will protect us when gods turn away?
Prayers are bullets from pulpits of hate.

Goodwill: the one ruse we’ve yet to employ,
Ancient disputes seethe with dogma as fuel,
Prayers are bullets from pulpits of hate,
Hear, O Israel and Ishmael’s sons!

© Davida Chazan 2000, 2015. First published September 2016 in Praxis Magazine Online. This is a collaborative poem comprised of more than 250 segments contributed by #poetsforpeace from around the world. A celebration of the International Day of Peace, in partnership with 100,000 Poets for Change.

To find out more about the Pantoum form, you can visit Poetry.org or this Wikipedia page.

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