Sages of War

That was the news

Every night

Walter Cronkite before

He’d say good night

I would watch the names

Scroll by on the television screen

And occasionally look for locals

I often feared my brother’s name

Or a cousin

Or a former basketball standout

For some they all appeared

Representing

War

–

That night

Across the country families grieved

As that name appeared

Made it real

Their boy was not coming home

At least

Not the way he left to catch the bus

Months earlier

A few years ago

Last summer when everyone

Gathered to celebrate

War

–

I listened to Simon & Garfunkel

Create metaphors with song and lyrics

A literal passage that allowed

Water under the bridge to

Resonate in our minds

Realizing the truth left us confused

“No More War, LBJ’

I read about a bombing at the

Madison campus, meant to be a protest

Now they were on the run

Criminals that seemed to want peace

But lost their way fighting

War

–

I would ask

What is battle?

I was 9 years old

So when Kennedy was shot

I finally understood

What happened to his brother?

I knew that X represented someone

That MLK Jr really did exist

Now JFK, and Bobby in the California sun

My mom listened to the radio

As I rode with her to work

Asking her – what is an iron lung?

War

–

My dad

We would drive through town

To deliver his mail

And I would watch him flinch

As a twin engine flew low

Across the valley’s hills

It reminded him of Saipan

And his camp where he grew chickens

Creating fresh eggs for his comrades

I never asked him about death

He wouldn’t want to reveal

War

–

Today

The news is the same

Though scrolled names are passé

We’re more inclined

To isolate their loss

Throw a parade

They still die inside and outside

While we mortgage our homes

Buy ipads & iphones & consume

Our days with forgetful purpose

In order to justify

Why we don’t want to know about

War

–

Freedom to live

Freedom to cry

Freedom to love

Freedom to belong

Freedom to dream

To believe

To exist

To respond

All that ugliness the men and women

Endure for our own lives

We need be thankful

We can be grateful

We are here the merit of their sacrifice

We celebrate today!

–

And that’s the way it is