Happy Memorial Day

I know not a thing of war.

Not the smell the taste or the weight of it

I know not a thing about the pain and crime of it

I know not of the suffering inherent and given

Of living to serve and knowing what must be

Of following the dictations of those in power

Understanding that while their decisions may not be just

The people you fight for deserve this freedom

I know not of long lonely nights

Of cold unjust grace and the repetition of death

Of holding close your heart in the face of desolation

I know not of the loss of peace and quiet

Nothing of the lack of my own bed

Of knowing nothing put the outlying comfort of a foreign land

I know not a thing of family far and wide

Of each day being a gift and blessing as your eyes open

Of each night a thought to what could be

Being a humanitarian and a war bringer

A peacekeeper and a scion of death

I know nothing of such life altering decisions

I know nothing of coming home a changed person

Of leaving a post with a mix of joy and trepidation

Of preparing to meet those who condemn you

Of preparing to meet those who revere you

Of knowing the price you had to pay

So spoiled others can have life their way

I know nothing,

Not a thing

Can’t even imagine

The immensity of war

And humbly thank those who have made this so

It is a bittersweet holiday because it admits fallacies to the human condition that we may never truly ever get past.  It is a wonderful thing to think that this world can attain a true and plentiful peace that serves the needs of all and treats all equally.  The truth is that the world is too diverse in some ways for such unity.  And until we as human beings can learn to respect instead of condemn diversity there will always be a need for war.  What needs to change is not the desire to be just but the matters that we are just about and the methods by which we wage war.

In the meantime I will be grateful that everyday there are countless men and women who are willing to be the ambassadors to humanity using their own lives as a bargaining chips to show us the fallacy of our need for war and what compassion is.  Throughout history war has destroyed and those left behind have had to rebuild.  I take solace in the idea that there is nothing that our country destroys that we do not attempt to rebuild.