War Haiku : .

Iraq - 2003

first bombardments --
I want to have in mind only
haiku from American friends

Serge Tomé 2003-03-20 - Belgium

war on the horizon
daffodils
in the rain

2003-03-13
Heather Madrone, USA

We are peace vigilantes, taking peace into our own hands
Saturday, we attended a peace march in San Francisco, startingat the Civic Center and taking the march into the black community.

direct action
the peace march heads
to the fillmore

babies in backpacks
police helicopters circle
the marchers

Yesterday, we joined the prayer vigil in Ben Lomond (population3000). 125 people with candles gathered on the corner to witnessfor peace.

candles in the wind
many voices join
in song

2003-03-17
Heather Madrone, USA

stifling dissent --
with enough heckling,
we'll do it for them

In my small town, someone shot out the windows of two shopsbecause the owners had signs supporting peace. At $800 a pop,these small business people cannot afford to keep replacing their windows. They've had to move their peace sentiments insideand out of the public view.

shotgun justice
keep free speech inside
where it belongs

remote control
i can turn off the TV but
not the war

Now that the chickenhawks have ridden roughshod over world opinionand the desires of the U.S. peace community, they want us to stifle ourdissent. It was okay to argue against the war before it started, but nowwe should support our troops by silencing ourselves. To dissent in the midst of a war is to "give aid and comfort to our enemies."

This reminds me so much of what the Southern gentlemen said to the abolitionists before the Civil War. “You may disagree with slavery, but,as long as slavery is in existence, you must put your consciences on theback burner and help slaveowners retrieve their property.”

Dissent, and even civil disobedience, are not merely the right ofcitizens in a free society. Dissent and civil disobedience are our *responsibility* to our society. Crimes of conscience have always stood on the front lines of the struggle for freedom.

For more than 350 years, Quakers have believed that war is morally wrong, against God's plan for humanity, against Jesus' commandments to his followers. We will not stand silent now.

dark nights
stand firm
in the Light

saint patrick's day
an order of genocide with a side
of famine

spring cleaning --
news of tomahawk strikes
on the radio

news of the war
i knit my worry
into this sweater

2003-03-20
Heather Madrone, USA

war news
dead bean vines rustle
in the breeze

2003-03-26
Heather Madrone, USA

soirée orageuse
le tonnerre se fait l'écho
de la guerre d'Irak

Line Michaud
in Regards de femmes 2003 - Canada

in the desert
turning off the engine
peace roars.

Michael Rehling
2003-03-08 - USA

Bagdad by night
Sherazade does not know
more tales

Moussia
2003-03-29 Italy

exploded skies
in a modern version
of Arabian nights

sprite
2003-03-30 - UK