The Tower

Kosovo 1999


And the pond filled with blood

As the evening sky lurked on the horizon

Ready to cover the world with the blanket of night

Only trees stood still, but even they looked heavy

And the sky filled with smoke

From the land that burnt with a warning cry

That screamed for peace, which wasn’t nigh

Only the water is calm, but even the ripples are tears

And the earth is filled with bodies

No spring flowers can quell the stench

Only the grass is green, but even this is between the hollow graves

And history will cry another tear

For again no-one will listen, no-one will read

No-one will write; for nearly two thousand years this war has gone on

Only the children can laugh, but

even they one day will do the same.


Richard Packer