false flags?

bitterness
resentment
hate
lie beneath a calmness
marked
by billowed fabric banners
of symbolic signs of freedom

thought peace was forged
a new flag flown

but now
I find the war
not won –
not even close to
over

retreat
a ceasefire
truce
don’t shoot!

we pause here ; stop the fight

yet anger seethes
when grief’s denied
o’er wrongs committed
then and now

reality of hate
belies –
lays waste to any
paper peace

one thing I’ve learned
the thing I fear
our only path to grief
that heals
is on the other side
of fakepeacespace
between our hostile forces

thought peace was forged
a new flag flown

but now
I find the war
not won –
not even close to
over

the path to grieving
past injustice
means giving way to anger first
one can’t ignore
the feels they feel
and ever hope to heal

avoidance
leads to hope unfounded
a Gaza strip
a DMZ
a multi-colored emblem

thought peace was forged
a new flag flown

but now
I find the war
not won –
not even close to
over

I won’t suggest that violence
reigns
more death is not the answer
I simply ask we
re-engage
and reconsider
which flags we choose to fly
and why

thought peace was forged
a new flag flown

but now
I find the war
not won –
not even close to
over