Where vineyards line the roadsides
And circle terraced mountains.
Olive skinned ladies
Walk in the coffee air
And all day long
Shiny boules click
In shaded leafy glades.

Soon we will cross the Alps,
To our right lies Italy,
Where Monet painted violet
The hazy streets of Venice
and water sings and kisses gently
Ancient walls of romantic splendour.

Ahead our normal route
Would take us over Yugoslavia
However.........
Where the crystal Adriatic..
Recoils at the shores of insanity.

Six miles up eating pre-packed lunch
Insulated in a snow white capsule
Below, below they are dying below,
Yugotours has closed because.......
The people are killing each other.
The blood of the children
Irrigates orphaned vineyards
and burned out homes circle the mountains
Which descend to the sun baked planes,
Where burned out people inhabit the streets
And blood laps the walls of bitterness.

Thank you for flying with us in
Ten minutes we will land at Larnaca,
The temperature on the ground is 37 degrees.
We hope you enjoy your tour of Cyprus
Where the apostle Paul brought the news
Of peace with God, sin’s forgiven
Hope of glory, love for one another
Forgiveness, meekness, gentleness.

The temperature at the poolside is 90 degrees
In Bosnia the temperature has boiled over
The hotel music rocks the night away.
In Sarajevo shells rock the hotels away.
Here on the sun terrace, ants run in meaningless circles.
In Croatia children run in meaningless circles.
Here I sit and contemplate my sun drenched
Break from work.
There they reel and contemplate their
Sun drenched broken lives.
Ladies and gentlemen we hope you enjoyed
Your stay in Cyprus
Soon we will be flying over ................

Ron Harding