if one man dies,
that's one too many
when reaping wheat or grain,
but war brings greater goals
to life, and its actors
seek for more
than simply life or death:

honor, glory, strategy,
the safety of the fatherland
- all these are lifted higher than
the value of one life.

barbaric? or enlightened.

one thing's sure:
life's too precious to be spilt
by ordinary means.

pinned down beneath a falling tree?
tragedy.
but if mowed down by cannons
that man is suddenly a hero
fallen and remembered,
given medals and
(too late)
an overflowing cup of praise;

for that man's death was worth it.

so they say.