Homework November 3: The Longest Night

[David Campbell]

The Longest Night

It is said that each night has its morning,
but it’s not so, they lie,
for still innocents die
in the light of each new day that’s dawning.

In the villages thousands are fleeing
from the darkness, a flood,
a great river of blood,
and the laws that religion’s decreeing.

And for those who remain there’s no waking
to find freedom of choice,
or the chance of a voice
in the hell that insurgents are making.

To oppose them means sure retribution,
for unless you repent,
any sign of dissent
brings a brutally swift execution.

“Where is justice?” the people are crying.
“Where is hope, where is peace,
who will give us release?
Must we watch as our homeland is dying?”

And the name of this country of sorrow?
It is many, not one,
that now live by the gun,
and extinguish the light of tomorrow.

© David Campbell 27/10/14

[Maureen K Clifford]

A timely reminder David that indeed it is many nations that are at war and many nations that are displaying inappropriate behaviour to those caught up in their evil webs. Justice, hope and peace seem to have flown for far too many people in this decade. Nicely crafted poem David and thank you for sharing it.

[Neville Briggs]

I reckon it's worthwhile to challenge the supposed wisdom of common aphorisms, in the light of current events.

The two short lines in each stanza, I feel, have the effect of slowing down the pace of the poem which I think works for this theme and mood.

C.S. Lewis wrote a small novel/parable called The Great Divorce in which he depicted a world where the sun remained just below the horizon in a sort of twilight which went on unchanged for centuries. The question people kept asking was, is the sun setting or rising. They couldn't tell.
Some people had the theory that one day the sun would set and plunge the world into terrible darkness, others had the belief that one day the sun would rise and shine glorious light on the world.
Your poem seems to go with the setting sun idea.

[David Campbell]

Thanks, Maureen. Today there's news that large numbers of Polish troops are being moved to the eastern border because of the problems in the Ukraine and concerns about Russia's expansionist policies. That's another potential front opening up.

Interesting, Neville...I wasn't aware of the Lewis book. The setting sun idea is probably appropriate in some contexts as the West constantly seems to think it can "fix" sectarian/tribal/religious/ethnic feuds that have centuries of history. Self-delusion. The Sunni-Shia conflict, for example, dates back to the 7th century.

David