Stop wars! Stop the killings! — A Poem for Our Times

My ancestors the Spirit Wrestlers / Doukhobors
in 1895 burnt their guns calling on humanity
to stop wars once and for all —
or face the fate of dying together as fools.

We were inspired by the Russian writer Lev N. Tolstoy
who influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
in the use of nonviolence and love in solving human problems.

Yet wars have continued with hundreds of millions killed
slaughtered on the battlefields of hell.
When will we ever learn?
The stench of mass murders
affects us all — mothers, fathers, young and old.

It robs us of the human potential for
creating peace on earth
with free healthcare, free education,
housing, clean environment, and more.
Our heritage as human beings is at stake,.

Have we not heard of the wisdom of
‘Thou shalt not kill’?
Have we not known that pointing a gun at another person
is not a friendly act?

Why are we making millions
from perpetual wars
through the manufacture of
weapons of mass destruction?
Humanity Wake Up!

Are we deaf to the wisdom of our ancestors to
‘Stop Wars! Stop the killings!’
‘Do we not know that we are our brothers and sisters keepers?’.
How many ears will it take to hear
the cry of children orphaned by war?
When will we ever learn?

At the forthcoming arms show in Ottawa of 12,000 people
gathered to see the latest free market killers,
a few brave souls will gather at the gates with signs
‘Stop the murders’.’Stop the killings’.
‘Stop manufacturing killer weapons’.
Close down CANSEC.

When will we discover
peaceful alternatives to violence and wars?
When will we stop becoming rich from wars?
Or have we been hijacked by the almighty dollar,
killing our competition, grabbing oilfields or whatever?

Statesmen and women of the world
stand up and be counted.
Stop playing chess with our lives.
And media workers, cease being pawns
of the military industrial complex — your job
is to seek the truth and share it with the world.

The sacred choice is in our hands, my dear friends:
Life, love, beauty and humanity;
or the Stone Age of human extinction?
That is the question of the new decade.
Is anyone listening to the current words of wisdom:

NEVER AGAIN. STOP NATO.

DIVEST, DISARM, DEMILITARIZE.

OUTLAW WARS. STOP THE KILLINGS! LET’S BECOME NONKILLING HUMANS— RESPECT LIFE, LOVE and HUMANITY.

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This poem was written for the 5th World Beyond War Conference in Ottawa, May 26-30, 2020.

Peace groups will oppose the 2020 CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa on May 30-31, 2020. Please come out and support the movement to save humanity from the scourge of war.