War
Its that of setting sun

Valor and Honor radiate from the past

Beckoning us to stand tall and smile

–

The red, white and blues

shimmering brighter than a thousand suns

–

Yet when the brilliant colors dim

And the sun sets where is the beauty in war

For behind the medal

Behind the valory

Is countless caskets

Countless sleepless nights

–

We have only seen war

Even when we stare back into the darkness of humanity’s past

Our perception is shattered

Movies and good tales tainting our vision

–

We see a fabricated, glorified enlightened view of war

–

If only one could taste war

The blood in their mouths

The salt in the sea mist as they storm a beach

–

If only one could hear war

The screams of the dying

of the terrified

The barrage of bullets

of the explosions

The ringing in their ears

–

If only one could feel war

The bullets piercing their skin

The softness of a comrade’s hand as death drags him away

The coldness of the trigger

–

We only see the light of war

Glorifying its fleeting moments of beauty

Idolizing its heros

Fixating on thin threads of hope and sensibility

–

See the night

War is hell crawling out of the abyss of humanity’s shame and welled up anger

Into the light of mundane life

Snatching boys spitting them out as men

Fracturing reality

Tearing innocence

Gnawing at life

–

And so I wait

Let the parades drift by

Let the colors dim in the sunset

And than I look out

to see the darkness of my town

Imagining those restless soldiers

Transported back to those fields, those beaches, those jungles

They’ve never left only deceived in thinking they did

–

The darkness of war reveals its true colors

For in truth all colors, all smells, all feelings, all emotions, all experiences are war

And so I wait

–

For in the dark

I stare at the old flag waving gracefully and high still in the dark

I see the blood of soldiers seeping through the red

I see the lost innocence engrained in the white

I see the tears of soldiers pouring through the blue

–

For in the darkness of war I see its true colors