The landscape from my window is picture-perfect –
rolling hills, sheep dotted about, 
moving white clouds tinged with pink, 
giant weeds from excessive rain,
vines growing ferociously under the hot sun,
trees heavy with abundant fruit,
intense outbursts of heat and then, later,
thunder, angry wind and shrieking lightning bolts!

Nothing seems right – but what is ‘right’?
Can we read the ‘signs of the times’?
Good days eclipse bad, but bad things keep happening.
We get lost in the moment, but bathe in surreal hope.

Yesterday evening, nothing moved.
The peach tree’s looping branches
Laden with fruit, did not stir.
No gentle breeze, no fluttering of leaves…
Just silence and a strange stillness.

This afternoon, the sky was full of heavy white cloud.
Yet in a moment, blue skies emerged.
And the sun’s rays fell beautifully on the land.
The shadows brought relief.
Sudden and unexpected –
We have flickering light and joyous wonder.

Nature was singing here…
Yet on the same continent
Bombs were shattering lives,
People’s hearts were being broken,
The innocent were dying,
Men, soldiers and civilians, were being crushed and scarred,
Violence and hatred had been unleashed:
Man against man, under the same blood-red sky.
The enemy was faceless – a uniform, a loyalty, a fear,
A force, an ignorance, a vain hope, a criminal mind, an evil,
A delusion, a sickness, a madman, a terror, a blackmail,
A necessity, a defence, a just cause, a lie, a murder.

Our brothers and sisters are dying!

Come, Lord Jesus, come!
Free our chains and chain the enemy of life!
Come, Lord Jesus, Just Judge – we plead, ‘make haste to help us’!
Give strength to the righteous and wipe out evil…
In Your Mercy, in Your Love, in Your unfathomable Goodness.
Let us see the green hills, and feel the gentle wind,
Let us feel joy in our hearts, and catch the warming sun,
Let us live in peace and love, and know the Living God
Revive our stagnant world, and let its fruit be precious.


Juliehughespoetry©2023aug14france