Near Kabul Poem by Francis Duggan

Near Kabul a poor man is grieving for his three young children and his wife
He doesn't seem to have a future and nothing to live for in life
A stray bomb demolished his old home and killed his entire family
He's just one more unfortunate victim of man's callous inhumanity.

He can't be blamed for September the eleventh when near three thousand innocents died
And 'twas not his fault or the fault of his family that so many dreams were destroyed
He is not guilty of any acts of inhumanity and should he be the one who must pay
For what happened in New York and Washington from Kabul that seems so far away.

He do not know Osama Bin Laden he has only heard of him by name
And as a poor and homeless peasant he could not condone acts of shame
Those who killed his wife and his children say sorry for our tragic mistake
But their words to him of little value and to him any difference won't make.

A man who has known hungry Seasons in a Land ravaged by drought and war
And near the beginning of Winter the Spring from now is looking far
He has lost all of his nearest and dearest and he knows all about poverty
And with cluster bombs dropping around him what hope for a future has he? .

He sleeps in a cold cave without blankets compared to him none so lucky as I
And he wakes to hear the cold wind howling across the frosty starlit sky
In such a hostile environment one wonders will he survive till Spring
And he often thinks about suicide as not such a dishonourable thing.

Near Kabul a poor man in his thirties grieves for his young children and wife
A stray bomb has rendered him homeless and taken all he's had in life
And compared to him I am so lucky my future seems bright and secure
How come in a war situation that the victims are always the poor? .