Lament for the Middle East

All the stolen dreams
And all the shattered hopes
All the broken lives
In these sad cruel times

1
Two peoples lived through so much pain 
 they cannot see they are so much the same
Now the suffering returns again
In these sad cruel times

Both sides are right, and wrong
Both sides weak, and strong
They yearn to live where they belong
In these sad cruel times

2
Now bombs and bullets fill the sky
With dust and death they both reply 
So the innocent have to die
In these sad cruel times

For those abandoned to their fate
death does not discriminate
For them it wll be too late 
after these sad cruel times

3
The seeds of war were long time sown
but our fathers' guilt is not our own
There's nothing that is set in stone
despite these sad cruel times

How many more of the wasted years ? 
Blighted lives and hopeless fears 
They try to make peace out of tears
in these sad cruel times

4
 We cannot see with hate filled eyes
 they blind us to compromise
 Sometimes we must apologise
 in these sad cruel times

 Only open hearts can set us free
 to hear the cry of humanity
 and stop these wars between river and sea
 and end these sad cruel times

All the stolen dreams
And all the shattered hopes
All the broken lives
In these sad cruel times

David Drinkwater 2024