Inspired by the 'Thousand Line Poem', though not near as long. |
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." -- Leon Trotsky War is kind Weep not maiden, war is kind Impined the war correspondent Despondent for his lack of mettle But emboldened to admit He knew the horror of battle Watching from afar so he Could comfort the living on How war is so kind. Honor and glory beckons The cause is just therefore Duty whispers 'lo' to the soldier So he can volunteer For daring deeds in The arms of death He turns his back on wisdom and gives one gallant gush all the while whispering 'I can'. Riding into the valleys of hell against those most terrifying odds They faced their foe undaunted But do they wonder Should they falter and run... no! The day will be theirs for war is kind, so kind That poets will laud them whilst they die in droves. I wonder if the poets knew What sort of burden was created This image the soldiers Had to face Generation after generation gone Inspired by words of those who never faced death's rendevous He loved his duty and honor to fight in one more just war In order to be a noble man So he can face his love Show her how much he cared Enough to leave her broken Still she took comfort That he loved her so very much And yet, in the end... He loved his honor more. Dank trenches in Flanders fields many await a gruesome end still espousing the virtues of wars past Pressed against the walls, waiting to Charge into that deadly space resolving to stop the other for they know their duty Even if the world abandons reason They stand firm and simply die. An outpost in the deep of dark Laden with the blood of the fallen is forgotten except for a few Those who scratched and clawed At the face of death Watching their comrades fall In a brief terrible moment Not for glory, nor for new lands Only because someone said 'go'. I dream of those honored dead And hope they forgive us our Need to comment and posture On the soldier's burden One that we have not faced One we should never want to I dream of remembrance... From bloodied creeks and streams at Sharpsburg and Bull Run To sieges at Calais and Hue I long for an absolution in the Teutonburg forest at the fall of Vera Cruz the terror of Gallipoli and the madness of Verdun. It will never come... War is kind If she will not weep Perhaps I shall. For it will not end The ruin we have created cannot end. Author's note: Some may have noticed the reference to specific poems in this work. Therefore, the following is a list of the authors and their works that helped inspire the poem: James Russell Lowell- 'The Thousand Line Poem' Stephen Crane- 'War is Kind' Alfred, Lord Tennyson- 'Charge of the Light Brigade' Alan Seeger- 'I Have a Rendevous With Death' Richard Lovelace- 'To Lucinda, Going Off to War' (I might have butchered the title on that one) Ralph Waldo Emerson- 'Voluntaries' Oh, and for my own perspective, one of my poems is referenced as well :) |