Inspired by and paraphrased from this anonymous message from a young man in Iran published by Equator, commenting on how the fervour he feels from outside the country does not consider the fallout of the supposed heroic actions of their saviours.
Shared with Poets and Storytellers United #217
The diaspora is manic.
Disconnection,
bordering on hallucination.
Speaking a second language
hearing only the first.
Opposite things can be true
as enemy flags flow
in harmonic waves.
Rhetoric raises ghosts
outside of reality’s window.
Feverish certainty
knows no consequence.
Outside is only more noise
in solidarity with itself.
But here,
real,
live,
breathing…
‘symbols’!
Fantasy politics, safely
in faraway fields,
grain-fed on grief
no one has to harvest.
Take these children,
lay them neatly on the altar
of an unnamed dawn.
Call it tomorrow.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
1994ever 
a pissing match with bombs….
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…and even the winners will be covered in piss 😢
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Excruciatingly unfair and tragic from which the shameless do disconnect. There are no winners. But some lose far more than the rest.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Penelope. Appreciated 🙏
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You’ve encapsulated this terrible situation very well.
(I am old enough to remember, and keep wanting to yell at people, ‘Hey, Pahlavi’s father was a corrupt tyrant!’)
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Thanks Rosemary 🙏
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A devastating and necessary piece. You hold the tension between distance and consequence with such clarity. The children at the centre reveal the unbearable truth of who pays the price.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Marja 🙏
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It’s sad to see how things are unfolding in this part of the world. We can only hope that there will be peace soon. https://sumandebray.blogspot.com
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The true axil of evil has revealed itself. Once it has eaten itself, perhaps there will be some peace.
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A vivid and beautifully thoughtfully penned poem – Jae
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Thanks for reading and commenting Jae 🙏
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“Speaking a second language
but hearing only the first”
There is a great deal packed into those lines.
What scares me is “disconnection bordering on hallucination.”
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Thanks Sara 🙏 If you get chance the inspirational article is worth a read. It’s quite thought-provoking.
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I tried to read the article, but you had to log in.
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Hmmm… such a sad development. Expected, but the opening desth wave was intentional, and for that I hope those responsible are brought to justice. It probably will never happen. But those children and the thousands who died in their illegal human cull should be avaneged.
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Thanks for reading and commenting 🙏 Appreciated.
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You’re welcome.
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The lunacy of what we are living through is unexplainable. Seen from afar it is horrendous. Living it– that I cannot fathom. How do we explain such things to the children? I do not know how to interpret any of this. Thanks for giving this grievance a little space here. My heart bleeds more than I ever imagined it ever could. Thanks Shaun. Bless you
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Thanks Selma 🙏
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Thank you
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A stunning poem, Shaun, that reflects the despair and confusion of this manic war. You captured it well in ‘Speaking a second language / hearing only the first’ and ‘Rhetoric raises ghosts / outside of reality’s window’. These lines made me cry:
‘Take these children,
lay them neatly on the altar
of an unnamed dawn.
Call it tomorrow.’
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Is that two days in a row that I have made you teary? I’m sorry.
Some things need to be said though.
Thanks Kim 🙏
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You’re welcome, Shaun. Nothing wrong with a good cry.
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