The Pornography Of War (poetry and art by David H. Roche

I've been wondering about the future.  It looks bleak.  We live in a world whose leaders have decided the economy cannot be sustained without war as it's driving force and inspiration.  This is because the world leaders have set it up this way in their projections for the future of society.  War is often the go to option of those in charge of the economy. 

At this link is an earlier post which has some worthwhile links to lectures by Chris Hedges which provide eye-opening accounts about world events.  I posted the poem below in the link above, but today changed a word or two.  The current version is below.

The Pornography Of War

Unfit for young eyes
the XXX news of the last 50 years
has been by persuasion with lies
and supported by cheers.

Parents still cry for children they've lost,

but all involved have agreed,

some must fight and some must die,

some must stay at home and cry

so the marketplace is free.

Newsprint black magic,

spells cast with words

God and country the plea;

call it anything you want,

porn is what I see.

By David H. Roche (C) 2016

The nation has been assaulted.  It has been injured seriously.  But why?  I found this lecture by Lawrence Wilkerson,  the former Chief of Staff for Colin Powell, which opens up an entirely non mainstream interpretation of events that most people did not know. 

In the end we the people are suffering from the activity of those which have leadership positions.  Lawrence Wilkerson has the same questions about the possibility of solving the problem.

Until the problem is solved
there will be war without end

and all the young folk
will want to attend.
Fathers and mothers,
brothers and sisters,
friends and lovers,
will bend their heads and cry

over flag draped caskets
in which they who marched off now lie.

This little poem by Richard Brautigan titled "Star Spangled Nails" pretty much gets to the heart of the situation. When it gets down to skin it's real. 

What are you going to do about it?  It's a question Jim Morrison asked long ago in the midst of another unwinnable and seemingly endless war.  It seems to be an appropriate question to ask again today. 

What can you do to stop war?  The question was asked when I was a young man selected to be cannon fodder.  Here's a response by the anti-war segment of the populace, a neat song and artistic performance  titled "Anthem" by The Hello People which I got to see on the Smother's Brothers show when it happened. 



The Smother's Brothers show was subsequently silenced by the Nixon administration which was pro war.  If you think Obama is bad, his evil twin was Nixon.

Enjoy this trek into the pacifist past. 

article, poetry and art by David H. Roche (C) 2016

(all else belongs to those who made it)