Poem in Support of Those Who Refuse Conscription

Conscientious Objection

 

Praise to those who refuse conscription.

Praise to ‘draft dodgers’ and objectors to war.

May the only thing they are ever induced to burn

be their draft cards. Let them stand against

the vast sways of their deluded societies

which crave and justify war as if it’s the answer

to their crisis, crises, situations, conditions.

Praise to the ones who stand against the claims

of ‘no alternative’, ‘responsibility to your country’,

and other epithets of manipulation and destruction.

Praise to the conscience that understands killing

leads to more killing and that military ‘camaraderie’

is the ultimate ganging up, bullying behaviour.

Praise to those who know cowardice is operating

in armies is facilitating starvation and the deaths

of children. To refuse conscription, to refuse to fight,

is not cowardice, and ‘bravery’ is not even a word

with an adequate range or an adequate history

to apply to such resolution, inner strength, morality.

 

 

            John Kinsella

Ceasefire Poem

 

For all those suffering from the effects of war. And in solidarity with pacifists/conscientious objectors/anti-war activists so often working under pressure from all 'sides'. It seems almost impossible for those involved in war to see that to oppose war is not to condone the wrongs and tyrannies of an invader or attacker. To hold a position of peace is to oppose all war. To be a pacifist is to believe there is no just position in using violence against violence, and that we need to work at every turn to bring dialogue and ultimately peace. Ceasefire is the only way. The dead are never victors. Freedom of speech is freedom to oppose war. To persecute peace activists is to make war on the very essence of justice itself. The lines above are simple and to the point. I hope they say something of what needs to be said. It seems obvious, but it's clearly not. 

    John Kinsella