Battles of the Heart
We have had an education
About the ways of war
In living memory
Word War One we know
And World War Two
And Vietnam
Korea I forgot
The Falklands
Ah Maggie Thatcher’s War
And thirty years of mayhem
In Ulster’s troubled land
Cruel death and butchery
Hatred to command
Once it starts
It’s hard to stop
A bloodlust takes control
Innocent people feel the pain
Daily death the toll
It behoves then
Every one of us
A civil tongue to hold
To deal in words of honesty
While blood runs hot or cold
Remove the hatred from my heart
The prejudice the fear
Pray the Lord to help us all
Possess a vision clear
My father was a man of peace
Because he lived through war
He saw what hatred anger does
Does not get you far
Nothing ever after that
Could ever disturb his mind
He dealt with all that came to him
Remained forever kind
Whenever tempers rose a notch
Whenever upset flared
My father firmly dealt with it
Showing how he cared
He did not shout
He did not scold
He only had to say
That was enough
For unruly children
To quieten and obey
It is our actions
In daily life
That bring the world to peace
Each one of us
In our own way
Can cause trouble
Now to cease
War and peace are on the news
Are seen in foreign parts
Yet Tolstoy’s themes begin their life
Where else? Within my heart
Brian Fahy
14 June 2021
Erris Poetry 