Friends of Mine Like Poetry
by Michael Doyle

Friends of mine like a little poetry
Mixed in with their misguided militancy,
There is something to the spin reeling
Who needs the facts when there are feelings

It's a little less about working things out
And more about vehemently spewing about
The things they've heard and been spoon-fed
The untrue truths they cannot get out of their heads

Like the situation in Palestine in a night of drinking
Where they miss the connecting points of sober thinking
Like how do Christian Arabs feel about militant actions
Made by Islamists dictating life amidst  the distractions

That leads the foreign public to see only what they are shown
And then act as if they know all there is to be known.
Death is not a watercooler topic of vapid conversation
Palestinian suffering has multiple layers of devastation

Poems about these subjects can electrify neon surprise
As emotional charges explode from well-placed hashtag lines
Too many of my friends who love poetry don't check the facts
Such as how many of the Palestinian deaths are from Muslim acts

Is it a huge surprise that holding people as human shields
Add to the death tolls and horror of atrocities that yield
More deaths than were ever needed, and the trauma of sorrow
So many children, old people, good people have no tomorrow

Where are poems for those defying the Palestinian Authority?
Where are memorials and words for those who live with dignity?
Where are poems for Israelis struck down in the prime of life?
How can so many believe this is only one-sided strife?

(c) January 12, 2023   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved