I hear the somber drums
the cadenced march without words command
to war and the broken return
of those who cannot march.

I am warm just witness to the fever
a virus that is spread and communicated

I know wars by their motive
I know them by their heart
and their heartlessness

I know of answering a nation's call
and I know of duty and when a war
is not of hope and peace and of restoration
wave not a flag of glory over conquest

the glory of war comes when weapons are cast aside
and after all it matters not
the who won and who lost
but when the combatants can be citizens again
to build and rebuild and make a peace gift
to their children

It is as clear as the light high blue sky
whether from succulent valley to the desert dunes
to calm cool mountaintop that turns a whisper
into an echo

and there comes that time when the horror of battle
thrust upon those who cannot fight
and can only die in its plight
and war without end becomes the saddest folly

it is not that war or this war or any one war
it is war without the glory of peace behind it.
-it is war to take away what another has
and keep it as a treasured prize.

the glory comes in the peace
oh yes, war is filled with heroism and sacrifice,
but the glory comes in the peace still...

-poetpj 92704 1108-