memory fails to
stop enduring grief
daily
farewell
face death alone
In 2015, when this post originally appeared, the New York Times published a chart explaining some of the ways civilians have died in the Syrian War. A little research online shows that in modern warfare it is estimated that 85-90% of all casualties are civilians (June 2014 American Journal of Public Health). War also wreaks havoc on the environment, leading to more death.
A Hard Rain
has fallen shadowed
by endless endings, ghosts both
multiplied and lost
Some estimates of civilians killed in recent and ongoing conflicts:
Sudan-Darfur 200,000
Iraq 170,000
Syria 200, 000
Congo 60,000
Afghanistan 45,000
Pakistan 35,000
Mexico 50,000
Libya 30,000
Chechnya 100,000
Eritrea-Ethiopia 70,000
Sierra Leone 70,000
These numbers have only increased since 2015.
There are not enough tears to encompass all this sorrow.
Bjorn at dVerse asked us to write poems of war. I decided to repost some of my headline haiku embroideries–I did a number of them from 2015-2017 when war was in the headlines every day. Now we’ve moved on to other things, but lest we forget, civilians and soldiers are still losing both their lives and homes every single day all over the world
Silence weeps
and eyes refuse sight.
No questions
can be posed,
nor answers given. Light is
erased. Dust and blood.
K. 
So well said, Kerfe: this is tragedy on an unimaginable scale. I did not realise the civilian death toll was such a high percentage but it figures with modern, mechanised warfare.
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Thanks Ingrid. It was eye-opening to me as well.
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This is outstanding, Kerfe. It could be an exhibition of words and images. It is so tragic and horrible. I don’t think most people consider the after effects of war–people killed by disease or famine, or even the crime that develops because people don’t have supplies. And people, often children who were playing, still killed by landmines of long past wars.
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Thanks Merril. It’s almost too much to comprehend. Or maybe it is too much, and that’s why we can never seem to do anything much about it.
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It is overwhelming to think about.
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Yes, it’s good to remind us all that for every soldier killed in war, there are a thousand civilians, not to mention the rapes and mutilations, starvation and destruction, refugee displacements and deaths. The soldier with his rifle is the armed tip of the iceberg.
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That’s so. It’s so easy to turn our faces away, to send those refugees home and back into the thick of it.
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Who sells the arms that fuel the wars the refugees are fleeing? Moral responsibility? We seem to have lost that somewhere among the paperwork.
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Any kind of responsibility…nowhere to be found.
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and an utter incomprehension when they’ve accused of immorality—but it’s legal!
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Ah yes, the law.
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Tricky sometimes.
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Lawyers can explain anything away.
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Which is why I don’t respect them in the way I respect people who make laws. They’re just paid to wriggle.
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Kerfe – do I understand correctly that you embroidered paper? That’s unreal. Does it ever tear? Your art is magnificent – both the visual art and the written verses.
Humbled,
David
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Thanks David. With a sharp needle, but only with simple stitches. It does tear sometimes, and I put scotch tape on the back. But mostly not. It’s less forgiving than fabric, but worth it for the effect, which is quite different, much more ephemeral.
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Every Single day,
Every single day.
Also humbled by this truth spoken to comfort. Thanks K.
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Thanks Lona. Every single day.
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This is gorgeously rendered, Kerfe! It’s heartbreaking to think of all those innocent lives lost in warfare. 😦
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Thanks Sanaa. There is way too much collateral damage done, even beyond the deaths of the soldiers themselves.
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This is brilliant Kerfe. Evocative, disarming, and powerfully sad. Just a wonderful piece of art!
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Thanks Rob. It’s hard to look at these images, but necessary.
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‘not enough tears to encompass all this sorrow’ ~~ my former husband was stationed at the Marine Base Hospital in DaNang Vietnam 1967 – 1968. As a physician and on his way to becoming a surgical pathologist … he performed autopsies on our soldiers who had killed each other over women and drugs. Yet more casualties of war ….. A great write, Kerfe.
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Thanks Helen. The casualties spiral out in both space and time…
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There are so many casualties in war… and I have noted how the percentage seems to ever increase… since this was written we have to add Yemen at least but probably more… your artwork is exquisite for this.
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Thanks Bjorn. Yes, we just keep adding more…
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What is it about the human species that makes us decide to exterminate each other? Other species’ members have disagreements or even one-on-one fights, but wide-scale extermination is distinctly the realm of humans. Your stitching images are haunting. You’re right, there will never be enough tears 😦
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It’s a mystery to me. Thanks Jade.
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a powerful poignant piece Kerfe … I knew many civilians died but had no idea of these numbers! You blew my mind 😦
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Its a sobering fact that just adds to the horror. Thanks Kate.
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kaykuala
When civilians are the prize called for by the powerful and price to pay for human conflict it reflects the intensity of intentions and insensitivity of emotions. You struck the reality of war so powerfully K! .Great!
Hank
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Thanks Hank. A sad reality indeed.
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I never realized the percentage of civilian casualties. Your writing and your masterpieces of art are simply stunning!
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Thanks…it was a surprise to me as well.
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In the nineties. I went to Bosnian and three times to Africa for food, water and medico missions. I saw dead cities and starvation. War, hunger and sickness. Rarely spoke about and killing millions. It is sad. USA will spend 1.2 trillion for war and very little to help our world. We need more people to show this world. Wars are being fought and the innocence die and become homeless. Powerful and needed words shared. Thank you.
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Thanks John. People don’t want to look, but they must. We can’t stop until we acknowledge it.
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We must remind people and you are welcome.
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