Friday Writings #45: War and Peace

 Hello again, dear wordsmiths. How are you doing on this fine Spring (or, for most of you, Autumn) day?

Life is very pleasant in my small town just now. No fires or floods yet to disturb our peace and the war against COVID seems to have settled down to something we can handle. (Though every time we get heavy rain, we feel anxious.) I hope things are going well where you are, too.

It’s sad that in some parts of the world there is actual war happening. Google tells me:

There Are at Least 27 Live Conflicts Right Now.


Of those worsening are the conflict in Ukraine, the war in Afghanistan, political instability in Lebanon, the war in Yemen, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, and the conflict in Ethiopia.

How very disheartening! I hadn’t realised that there were so many. But at least we now know where to direct our prayers and well-wishing thoughts.

 

Image by Candice Seplow, free from Unsplash.

Thoughts of War and Peace always lead me back to Tolstoy’s wonderful novel, and my favourite screen version starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer – particularly the moment when Pierre, as one of many trudging through the snow as captives of Napoleon’s army, realises that no-one can prevent his thoughts from being free.

Your optional prompt today is to share your musings on war and/or peace, whether literal or symbolic.

Or please feel free to regale us with any other piece of writing you’d like to share.

One post person please, using Mister Linky below. It can be prose or poetry, old or new, formal or free – we only ask that prose pieces stay within the 369-word limit (excluding title). If you’d like to link back to us at your post, and/or drop us a line here in the comments below, that would be lovely!

Next week, Magaly will invite us to write one piece of poetry or prose from 2 different points of view (for prose, the complete entry should still be 369 words or fewer).