Prose

I was fortunate to be viewing on PBS the other night
Military men and women past and present
So moved by their experience
While on duty in conflicts such as Vietnam,
Iraq and Afghanistan
(I use the word conflict in lieu of war because
these are not wars in the conventional sense)
As to author prose and poetry to channel
The emotion of that they had to do
And that which they witnessed

Most poignant to me, in the frank baring of souls’
Is each story had its root in humanity and feeling
The internal and unique emotional struggles
Felt and challenged each story teller

The imagery conjured was stark and real
The words sharp and burning
Their impact as piercing as the bullets
Spoken of
The ugliness of man killing man made real

The miserable irony in all this
Is that it is not new…it is old – very, very old

The closing passage in the documentary is the tale of
A military soldier’s enlightenment whilst he escorted
The body of a fallen, decorated soldier
A 19-year old young man –truly just a boy
Who gave his life for presumably what he believed
As have countless thousands of others but not for
Country or state – but for the love and desire
To protect the life of his fellow comrade-in-arms

This tale echoed the true wastefulness of humanity
The pointless struggle to win domination
Over one’s fellow man.

To ask: `Will we ever learn?’ Is proven to be a redundant question to ask.

To overthrow this mindset is to overthrow all that WE HAVE EVOLVED TO BECOME.