Wars do not have holidays
(employers claim they are self-employed)
Their job has to be fulfilled,
At any cost,
At all times,
Not to leave behind,
Green orchards,
Fertile land,
Or blue sky.
( Some argue wars are sensitive to light).

Wars do not read reports,
They are far too busy,
Devouring lives.

Wars do not read enquiries,
Of 2.6 million words.
Unlike Chilcot,
Their mission
Would not be accomplished
Until
Death swallows
2.6 million hearts
Or
Preferably more.

After all.
We have been warned,
In the beginning,
Was the war.

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Haifa Zangana is an Iraqi novelist, artist and activist. Author of four collections of short stories and three novels, including Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London and Dreaming of Baghdad. She has written extensively about the huge toll of the occupation on Iraqi civilians in articles for publications including the Guardian, and in non-fiction books such as City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman’s Account of War and Resistance, War with No End , and The Torturer in the Mirror with Ramsey Clark. As a Painter, she has participated in various European and American surrealist publications and group exhibitions, with one – woman shows in London and Iceland.