The world’s currently in a terrible state
Overwhelmed with death, suffering, and hate
Overseas, babies and children die by genocide
Something mainstream media tries to hide.
Kathy Figueroa, an eminent poetess from Canada, shares her poems
Canadian poetess Kathy Figueroa’s work has appeared in scores of newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, as well as in the realm of cyberspace. Her published collections include “Paudash Poems,” “Flowertopia,” “The Cathedral of the Eternal Blue Sky,” “The Ballad of the PoeTrain Poeteer: Winnipeg to Vancouver,” “The Renaissance of Rhyme,” and “Canadian Pandemic-Era Poems.”
A Terrible State
The world’s currently in a terrible state
Overwhelmed with death, suffering, and hate
Overseas, babies and children die by genocide
Something mainstream media tries to hide.
Here, statistics about a certain mandated vax
Are met with denials, vitriol, and attacks
…And we’re powerless to do anything except watch and grieve
As death tolls climb to numbers almost hard to believe
***
European White Tribes Fighting
European white tribes fighting
To settle, or even, old scores
Internecine conflict expands
With others coaxed to join the wars
Humanity starts devolving
When base brawn triumphs over brains
God creates, errant Man destroys
Until a Hell on Earth remains
***
He Wanted To Win
He Wanted To WinHe wanted to win at any cost
Many times it appeared that he might
In truth, so much was needlessly lost
Because he chose not to stop the fight
His emptied country was now in ruins
Many of the citizens had fled
Or in the missile-marred, blood-stained ground
Lay dead
***
Humanity Destroyed
Humanity DestroyedHumanity is being destroyed
As mass weapons of death are employed
Which try to prove God doesn’t exist
And that it’s futile to resist
It’s becoming harder not to hate
As we long for the horror to abate
…And peace seems like an impossible dream
A quest of the naive, a futile scheme…
***
The November War
Huddled together at the side of the road
They were refugees in flight,
Frozen for a moment, for all time,
In the glare of the bright headlight.
Four, leaning against each other,
Paused, on their desperate run,
As they sought shelter
From the dog and the gun.
Trepidation and sheer terror
Could be seen in their eyes
And that awful knowledge
Of how their kind dies.
Their days were numbered –
Maybe hours remained,
Not much more,
As they tried to escape
The November war.
Could they sleep or even rest?
Would they have the strength to fight?
Or would their legs fail
From exhaustion and fright?
If only there was somewhere to stay
By a house, or on a farm –
A shelter, refuge, or sanctuary
Where they’d be spared from harm.
But, anywhere they hid,
Unleashed dogs would find them
And, immediately, give chase
To the waiting guns of men
Who lacked mercy and grace.
Did they silently cry out to humankind
As near men’s homes they stood,
And plead to be allowed to return
To their place in the wild wood?
Do they face the houses of men
Like men turn their faces to the sky
To ask a higher power
For mercy and a reason why
They must endure such times
Of misery and strife?
And do they ask that higher power
To spare a humble life?
An elderly friend told me a story
About her history.
She and her family were captured
Long ago, in another country.
They were moved to an enclosure
With an open gate,
But no one ventured out
Because they knew what lay in wait.
Though it was Christmas Eve,
No one dared to run
Because the men were waiting
With the dog and the gun.
When I saw those frightened deer
That evening so dark and cold,
I remembered my friend
And the story she told.
Those images have never left me
So, now, I write this poem
And hope, one day,
All inhabitants of Earth
Will share in peace
This planet we call home.
“The November War” was first published on the National Post newspaper website on October 8, 2008, in The Bancroft Times newspaper on November 15, 2012, and included in Kathy Figueroa’s book, “Paudash Poems.”
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