Ceasefire - A Poem

Note: I actually wrote this poem about 5 years ago in my college poetry class. With all the continuing bloodshed and relentless violence and the fact that a ceasefire in Gaza only lasted 90 minutes, it's every bit as relevant now as it was then. #freepalestine

Ceasefire
by Asif Balouch

Across my TV screen
the evening news invites me
to a world where smiles do not exist.
Where all that lies is images of horror,
devastation that knows no bounds.
Gaza,
where blood flows more than water.

Sad story follows tragedy repeatedly
in a torturous cycle.

I’ve seen enough
and am not the only one
that cries out for those liable
to bring forth a ceasefire.

To city halls we go and march,
embassies and consulates.
The demand of a resolution we sought
an end to the conflict.
Cardboard signs with words big and
bold spell out our disapproval.
A clear message to those in power:
"How much more lives must be lost
before you’ve had your fill?"

That would get you out of your passive state into actual activity?
Save some lives and save your souls,
bring forth this ceasefire!

It seemed the demands had been met,
the ceasefire had finally come.
Talks of peace now possible, rather
than a pipedream.

Short-lived, however,
is what peace came to be
as violence and bloodshed
reappeared uninvited.

Guns rattled,
bombs blasted,
bodies dropped,
and families returned to being
depleted of its members.

Children now orphans and only Childs,
while parents childless.
All due to the triggers of transgressors,
violators of the ceasefire.

A dispute over real estate becomes
a clash over faith and tradition.
Those that follow their holy books,
claim justification of their actions.
Yet they overlook the most important verses of their scriptures

,a blind eye to God’s commandments,

a deaf ear to the consequences.
Religion is not even required as a guide,
use your common sense!

At a young age we learn to share,
to bond,
to coexist,
compromise and work out differences.

Skills that are supposed to be instilled,
in the framework of human hearts and minds,
now another casualty of this war.
A call for resurrection,
for those fallen tools of world peace.

For if they were to return,
would there be a need to order a ceasefire?