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.
