Love song to Sarajevo.
A love song should be sung with joy not shame
Yes a love song should be sung with joy
But it is with shame that I write
A love song to Sarajevo.
I hear of the deaths and the blood spilled
And the killing goes on and on and on
And it is with shame that I write
A love song to Garasda.
I heard a Muslim child cry
Rescued but leaving her mother behind
And it is with shame that I write
A love song to Mostar.
I heard from the quietness of our radio
A man cry for his Serb sister, lost and unheard
And it is with shame that I write
A love song to Belgrade.
A Serb speaks of his anger that the world
Has simply turned away and no longer listens
And it is with shame that I write
A love song to Tuzla.
A doctor speaks of the death of the wounded
A hospital bombed and riddled by sniper fire
And it is with shame that I write
A love song to the people.
Love songs should be sung with joy
But my heart is filled with pain.
First published in Rob Cullen’s first poetry collection Uncertain Times – Octavo Press 2016.
©RobCullen2017