“How can people be so cruel to each other?” – v4

He became mute, he was traumatized, terrorized,
tortured, blooded, and beaten,
unable to speak, become a specter, a shell,
hiding himself deep inside, protecting who he is,
but there has been a warming in his spirit,
reborn, beginning to speak, to struggle, to ask…
Asking THE important questions,
the essential question, the challenge,
to this world, to leaders, for all mankind, of humanity…
 
“How can people be so cruel to each other?”, he cries,
a prisoner begs us, “Why so much pain?”,
he asks humanity, “Why are there so many lies?”,
in this moment of chaos, of hate, of war,
encircling this world, stalking the globe…
How could this happen, again, again,
aggression, conquest, torture, genocide,
when the world pledged, “Never Again!”,
after the Holocaust, almost 80 years ago…
 
The essential question, the struggle for our time,
for meaning, reconciliation, for peace to rise, to ascend,
out of the ashes of war, terror, of genocide,
encircling our world, this planet, too many to count,
martyrs and enemies, innocent blood…
Children in the crosshairs, old lives cut down,
lives lost to tragedy, to a reign of terror falling down,
“How can people be so cruel to each other?”,
how can we change that somehow?...
 
What can be the path forward, out of these dark times,
how can we tear down the walls between us,
to find a different path, a more just future, for all of us,
where have we gone so wrong, what humanity have we lost,
the pain, the trauma, a legacy heavy upon us…
So many lives cut down, lives frozen in time, deflected,
distracted from our paths, our hopes, our dreams,
the lament of this son who spoke, who pleads with us,
to find a way out of the madness, to live in peace…
 
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Edited September 27, 2024
How can people be so cruel to each other – v4
 
Edited September 26, 2024
How can people be so cruel to each other – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/how-can-people-be-so-cruel-to-each_26.html
Edited September 26, 2024
How can people be so cruel to each other – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/how-can-people-be-so-cruel-to-each.html
September 26, 2024
How can people be so cruel to each other
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/how-can-people-be-so-cruel-to-each-other.html
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Anton Gerashchenko
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1839272173401211031
“"Why so much pain? Why so many lies? Why are people so cruel to each other?" - the first words of 22-year-old marine Yurii Hulchuk, who lost his speech and the ability to experience emotions due to torture in Russian captivity.
His mother was told by Warriors who had returned from captivity earlier that her son stopped speaking back in June of 2022. Yurii returned to Ukraine on September 14, 2024. His condition shocked everyone who saw him. But despite the doctors' disappointing prognosis, Yurii started to speak.”
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Anton Gerashchenko
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1839264945206120804
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Olexander Scherba
https://x.com/olex_scherba/status/1839234252744913297
“Ukrainian PoW who lost his ability to speak - he started talking!”
https://x.com/i/status/1839234252744913297
&
Edited September 25, 2024
the threat much closer – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-threat-much-closer-v4.html
September 10, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v5.html
Edited September 25, 2024
History will curse him – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/history-will-curse-him-v2.html
Edited September 25, 2024
He is an Anti-Christ, a Satan – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/he-is-anti-christ-satan-v2.html
Edited September 25, 2024
His arrogance, his ego – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/his-arrogance-his-ego-v2.html
Edited September 25, 2024
the soul of a monster
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-soul-of-monster.html
Edited September 23, 2024
Human life is all that matters – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/human-life-is-all-that-matters-v3.html
Edited September 22, 2024
Each human life is important – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/each-human-life-is-important-v2.html
Refuting the clear message of Putin’s war of aggression that,
“Human life is unimportant”
And the quote of Vladimir Kara-Murza in the decision to release
Russian murderer so that those held unjustly would be free,
That each human life is important…
And my poem, “Human life is all that matters – v2”
Edited September 23, 2024
A lost war of aggression – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-lost-war-of-aggression-v2.html
September 22, 2024
Article by Carole Cadwalladr in The Guardian -
“Putin regime will collapse without warning, says freed gulag dissident”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/putin-regime-will-collapse-without-warning-says-freed-gulag-dissident
September 20, 2024
Article by Tom Watling in The Independent -
“The downfall of Putin is inevitable, says freed dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-kara-murza-putin-russia-strategy-ukraine-b2615884.html
September 21, 2024
BBC Newscast - Interview: Vladimir Kara-Murza On Life In A Russian Prison
Laura Kuenssberg - full interview with Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife Evgenia
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0js0cx1?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
 
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 202 2022, 2023, and 2024. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
 
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poetry, Ukraine, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, humanity, love, innocent blood, cruelty, anger, hate, war crimes, crimes against humanity, United Nations, Yurii Hulchuk,
 
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