Post 17 war war ever more?

 

 

YELLOW AND BLUE         

Yellow daffodils nod and sway
Against a rare blue sky
Reminding me this calm Spring day
That the yellow and blue
Of Ukrainian flags
Flutter for those who die

 

 

 

 On the 30th of September 1938, Britain, France, Germany and Italy agreed that Germany could occupy the disputed Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia; giving way to Germany’s claims that the German speaking peoples of this area were being ‘harassed’ and treated badly by the Czechoslovak populace. Neville Chamberlain returned triumphant and gave his much quoted ‘Peace in our Time’ speech; stating that the Sudeten dispute was nothing that Britain should be involved in. 

“This quarrel in a far away country, between people of which we know nothing” is the famous statement that rang so hollow, only seven months later.

83 years ago, on the 15th of March,1939, German troops marched into Prague.

 

NOT SO FAR . . .  written on St David’s Day

Somewhere, over the Ridge, past Freshwater West
They’re going for it at the army range in Castlemartin
The ack ack of small arms fire
The intermittent thuds of tank fire
The whine of rockets
And, sometimes
A window rattling boom

Somewhere, in a country not so far away
‘A quarrel between people’ of whom we know quite a bit
Is in full war mode
Those people are hearing
The ack ack of small arms fire
Those people are fearing
The intermittent thuds of tank fire
The whine of rockets
And, all too often
A window shattering boom

And as I think of those besieged today
I cannot help but wonder
If it felt like this before the last affray
When all was rent asunder

 

This is truly a ‘Forward to the Past’ that most of us hoped could never happen again. Not only is the killing of populace, and the deliberate destruction of residential areas, hospitals and public spaces horrific. But now, we have a paranoiac dictator threatening nuclear Armageddon, if the world does not bend to his will.

But, for me, one of the most disturbing ‘facts’ is how quickly the forces of misinformation have jumped on the bandwagon of retreat from the climate question. Suddenly, it seems that our government are looking favourably at considering fracking a viable option, to feed our addiction to fossil fuel pollution. Fuel that is utilised in huge quantities in the making of weapons of war; to say nothing of the pollution caused by their use.

Maybe I’m being too pessimistic. I did hear speakers from Finland and Norway say that, this shortage of traditional energy will fast track renewable projects. How ironic that we have to suffer another world war, before we can realize the achievable goal of clean ‘free’ energy. Let’s hope this ‘sea change’ global catastrophe is short lived, and we can resume our efforts to make the whole world a safe, clean environment for all humankind.