What War Is

War is not waged on cancer
or on drugs. Rather, war
is Mankind’s brutality unleashed.
War is a multitude of mothers mourning,
of fathers and sons bleeding and dying.
War is deliberate pain and suffering.
It’s Man giving in to his basest instincts.
War is hell on earth.

War is cavemen smashing heads with
clubs and stones, Greeks and Romans
impaling enemies with sword and spear.
It’s arrows falling and bullets whizzing,
artillery shells exploding and bombs
raining down in the dead of night.
War is missiles hitting unseen targets.
War is Hiroshima.
War is killing fellow human beings
because they look or think differently.

War is the failure of reason.
War is sanctimonious old men sending
courageous young men into the valley of death;
it’s politicians watching in comfortable safety
as the young soldiers endure, fight, and die.
War is misery following boredom,
bravado giving way to suffering --
there is precious little glory found in war.
War is an indelible stain on the heart of
those people waging it, dehumanizing them
bit by bit until they tolerate terrible acts.
War robs a nation of its compassion,
sensitivity, tolerance, and respect for others.
War …past, present, and for all time…is
an abomination for all Mankind,
even if sometimes war is unavoidable.


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